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.

---

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

---

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

---

defer ² British  

/ dɪˈfɜː /

verb

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

   I defer to your superior knowledge

---

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

“In a scenario where we see continued weak lithium prices, we believe some could re-evaluate or defer spend,” UBS said Wednesday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

"Thus, hydrodissection merits to be a minimally invasive option for mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome and can defer and even alleviate the need for surgery."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026

The move followed warnings that it could end up costing the government money if wealthy people leave the country or defer selling off assets, the Times newspaper reported.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

But sometimes the law Congress enacts explicitly directs the judiciary to defer to the views of federal agencies who have studied a difficult problem and made evidence-based recommendations.

From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026

The group seemed to naturally defer to her as the leader.

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

"These questions require answers now. They cannot be deferred until the next meeting of the Fifa Council - nor can future governance reforms substitute for scrutiny of decisions already taken and accountability for them."

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever tendered his resignation to King Philippe on Monday over deadlocked budget talks, but the monarch deferred his decision until after a new meeting Friday.

From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026

The state contributed $80 million to the Oschin Center’s creation, and it is spending another $450 million on Expo’s deferred maintenance, accessibility and a new park along the complex’s south edge.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

You also asked whether payments could be deferred for five or even 10 years.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026

There’s no indication that Henrietta questioned him; like most patients in the 1950s, she deferred to anything her doctors said.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

The Dodgers are starting Tarik Skubal in Game 1 of their playoff series against the Atlanta Braves, deferring Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s start until later in the series.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

Whenever “Primetime” comes close to a deeper truth, the film backs off entirely, deferring to Pattinson to deliver the intended magnitude.

From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026

Other cost-cutting measures were also announced, such as deferring wage increases until 2035 and having senior executives forgo base salary increases in 2027 and 2028.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

Cheniere Energy, another gas exporter, has said it is considering deferring maintenance at some of its units to produce more supplies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026

The others were deferring to him, allowing him the clean shot, giving him back the ball more often than they gave it back to each other.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

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

---