postponement
Americannoun
-
the act of putting something off to a later time; deferral.
Taking your sick or injured pet to the veterinarian should be prompt, as any postponement can lead to ongoing medical issues.
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the act of placing a thing below something else in importance or after something else in sequence (now used most often in grammar).
Historically, inheritance laws tended toward a postponement of the claims of female kin to those of male kin.
In English, the end position in a sentence is normally reserved for the key point, so postponement of an element is a way of emphasizing it.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of postponement
Explanation
When you delay something until a later time or date, that's a postponement. If a trial lawyer doesn't have all the information she needs, she may ask the judge for a postponement until the following week. A postponement can also be called a deferral or a stay, and it means rescheduling something for later. You can request a postponement of your chemistry test, but there's no guarantee you'll get it. When a baseball game or tennis match gets rained out, the teams agree on a postponement, starting over at the earliest opportunity. Postponement has a Latin root, postponere, "put after, neglect, or postpone."
Vocabulary lists containing postponement
"The Moustache" and "Who We Really Are"
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This Week in Pop Culture: March 30 - April 5, 2019
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ment
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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.
Quoting diplomats, the Financial Times said Israel's strikes on Lebanon had led to the postponement but there was no immediate confirmation.
From Barron's • Jun. 19, 2026
But he cited issues, including the company’s recent postponement of a U.S. listing and underutilization of its balance sheet.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
Both systems also face a postponement of increases in funding promised in the past — unchanged from the first version of the budget in January.
From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2026
As injury and the postponement of races caused by the coronavirus pandemic left Sawe struggling to make a living through running, his uncle, Uganda's 800m record holder Abraham Chepkirwok, put him in touch.
From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026
When Pietro Crespi found out about the new postponement, he went through a crisis of disappointment, but Rebeca gave him a final proof of her loyalty.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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.
