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belated

[bih-ley-tid]
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adjective
  1. coming or being after the customary, useful, or expected time: belated birthday greetings.
  2. late, delayed, or detained: We started the meeting without the belated representative.
  3. Archaic. obsolete; old-fashioned; out-of-date: a belated view of world politics.
  4. Archaic. overtaken by darkness or night.
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Origin of belated

1610–20; belate to delay (be- + late) + -ed2
Related formsbe·lat·ed·ly, adverbbe·lat·ed·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for belatedness

Historical Examples

  • This belatedness causes a jerky motion of the arm and imparts it to the hand.

    Piano Playing

    Josef Hofmann

  • The "belatedness" of your letter only made me fear that I had offended you.

  • Of late years they are growing conscious of their own belatedness, and that touches a tender spot.

British Dictionary definitions for belatedness

belated

adjective
  1. late or too latebelated greetings
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Derived Formsbelatedly, adverbbelatedness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for belatedness

belated

adj.

1610s, "overtaken by night," past participle adjective from belate "to make late, detain," from be- + late. Sense of "coming past due, behind date" is from 1660s. Related: Belatedly.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper