defer

¹ American  

[dih-fur] / dɪˈfɜr /

verb (used with object)

deferred, deferring

1. to put off (action, consideration, etc.) to a future time.

   The decision has been deferred by the board until next week.

2. to exempt temporarily from induction into military service.

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verb (used without object)

deferred, deferring

1. to put off action; delay.

defer ² American  

[dih-fur] / dɪˈfɜr /

verb (used without object)

deferred, deferring

1. to yield respectfully in judgment or opinion (usually followed byto ).

   We all defer to him in these matters.

   Synonyms:

   capitulate, acquiesce, submit, accede

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verb (used with object)

deferred, deferring

1. to submit for decision; refer.

   We defer questions of this kind to the president.

defer ¹ British  

/ dɪˈfɜː /

verb

1. (tr) to delay or cause to be delayed until a future time; postpone

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defer ² British  

/ dɪˈfɜː /

verb

1. to yield (to) or comply (with) the wishes or judgments of another

   I defer to your superior knowledge

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Synonym Usage

Defer, delay, postpone imply keeping something from occurring until a future time. To defer is to decide to do something later on: to defer making a payment. To delay is sometimes equivalent to defer, but usually it is to act in a dilatory manner and thus lay something aside: to delay one's departure. To postpone a thing is to put it off to (usually) some particular time in the future, with the intention of beginning or resuming it then: to postpone an election. procrastinate.

Other Word Forms

• deferrer
  noun
• deferrable
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of defer¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English deferen, differren “to delay”; see defer ² differ

Origin of defer²

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English deferren, from Latin dēferre “to carry from or down, report, accuse,” equivalent to dē- “from, away from, out of” + ferre “to carry”; see de-, bear ¹

Explanation

Defer means to put off or delay. You can try to defer the inevitable by pushing “snooze” and falling back asleep, but eventually you're going to have to get up. If you're excellent at pushing things to a later date and a master at procrastination, then you already know how to defer. But defer can also mean to comply with another person’s opinion or wishes. So when your boss finds out you deferred your work to shop online instead, you should probably defer when she asks you to come in and finish everything up over the weekend.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

defer deferred deferring

Also known by its rather unsubtle acronym, CRUSH, this initiative is taking unprecedented steps to withhold and defer funds in response to suspected fraud.

From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026

Many towns and cities help older homeowners stay in their homes by permitting them to defer their taxes until they sell their homes or pass away.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

Remember that with publicly traded stocks, dividend income is usually low and you can defer capital gains at will.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Burnham was health secretary in a Gordon Brown government which proposed a compulsory levy which people could defer until after they had died.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

He was Howard Poillon, a hardheaded businessman who was determined to make the most of the corporation’s growing patent portfolio but also more willing to defer to Cottrell’s wishes and judgment on philanthropic matters.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Buildings with underfunded reserves are far more likely to have deferred maintenance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

"Net bookings", the company's preferred revenue yardstick which excludes some deferred sales, was down slightly less in April-June, falling nine percent to 256 million euros.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

Bonilla, of course, hasn’t played for the Mets since 1999 but is famously still on the books through 2035 thanks to his deferred contract.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Lord Scott continued his remand in custody as sentencing was deferred for reports.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

Their ruin is deferred only so long as an attack is deferred.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

You don’t want to look back later and kick yourself for deferring your taxes but incurring poor returns.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

But a spoof is under no obligation to turn that one joke into a full narrative as it does by deferring to a younger cast, and only checking in with the franchise’s original players occasionally.

From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026

Motions to dismiss charges in the case paint some of the officers as rookies deferring to their superiors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026

From what I understand, a distribution is mandatory; deferring receipt does not exempt one from the requirement.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 23, 2026

The fact that he’s deferring to me makes me feel better about it.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Related Words

• adjourn
• delay
• extend
• hold up
• postpone
• prolong
• set aside
• shelve
• stall
• suspend
• waive