deferment
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
Rather than stopping payments, you can often legally pause them through official deferment or forbearance programs.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
In refinancing, your husband would lose a raft of federal protections and flexible deferment and forbearance options.
From MarketWatch ● May 15, 2026
He avoided the Vietnam War draft with four student deferments and one medical deferment for bone spurs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2026
He spent 15 years in and out of forbearance, deferment and repayment on his federal loans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2025
“You know how many guys would love to have a student deferment? And you’re just throwing it away.”
From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English
Adamson draws an analogy to military educational deferments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
He obtained a string of deferments, first so that he could finish his college course and then when his new wife, Lynne became pregnant.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2025
With a Direct Subsidized Loan, the federal government pays the interest while the student is enrolled at least half-time, then during the six-month grace period after leaving school and during any approved deferments.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 31, 2025
It drew attention to his draft-dodging record of five deferments at the height of the Vietnam War.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2024
When the professors learned that students who did not maintain a certain grade point average could lose their deferments and be drafted, they decided not to give any grades.
From "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom
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.
