deferment
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of deferment
Explanation
A deferment delays something until a future time. If you want to wait a few years before paying off a loan, you need to ask for a deferment. Deferment is an official word for "I'll do that later!" College students who owe a lot of money can apply for deferments that give them more time to pay back their loans. Students accepted to colleges can sometimes get a deferment that allows them to do something else first (like serve in the military), and then attend the college later. This is usually used in formal contexts — good luck getting a deferment for your chores.
Vocabulary lists containing deferment
The Things They Carried
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Memorial Day: Words of Respect and Remembrance
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Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He spent 15 years in and out of forbearance, deferment and repayment on his federal loans.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 1, 2025
But because borrowers with federal loans can choose from forbearance, deferment or income-driven repayment, it’s that much more challenging to prove undue hardship.
From Salon • Jan. 24, 2025
And it credits borrowers for months they spent in deferment or in lengthy periods of forbearance.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2024
Lvova-Belova in her Friday statement said that Yermokhin was only being summoned for record-keeping purposes and rejected claims that the teenager could be conscripted, saying that as a college student, he had a deferment.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 10, 2023
"They granted me a deferment until I graduate. But I must still serve six months in the Reich Labor Service."
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
