definitions

belated

[ bih-ley-tid ]
/ bɪˈleɪ tɪd /
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR belated ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

coming or being after the customary, useful, or expected time: belated birthday greetings.
late, delayed, or detained: We started the meeting without the belated representative.
Archaic. obsolete; old-fashioned; out-of-date: a belated view of world politics.
Archaic. overtaken by darkness or night.

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RELATED WORDS

delay, slowness, tardiness, dilatoriness

Nearby words

belafonte, belah, belarus, belarussian, belasco, belated, belau, belaud, belay, belaya, belaya tserkov

Origin of belated

1610–20; belate to delay (be- + late) + -ed2

Related forms

be·lat·ed·ly, adverbbe·lat·ed·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for belatedness

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

    Our Southern Highlanders|Horace Kephart

  • 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.

    The Letters of Ambrose Bierce|Ambrose Bierce

British Dictionary definitions for belatedness

belated

/ (bɪˈleɪtɪd) /

adjective

late or too latebelated greetings

Derived Forms

belatedly, 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