adjective
-
occurring later than expected
tardy retribution
-
slow in progress, growth, etc
a tardy reader
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of tardy
First recorded in 1475–85; earlier tardive, tardif, from Old French, from unattested Vulgar Latin tardīvus, equivalent to Latin tard(us) “slow” + -īvus adjective suffix; see -ive
Explanation
When you're tardy, you're late. If you've ever been late for school, you know about tardy, and you may have a stash of notes your teacher has sent home to your parents, informing them of your tardiness. You may be tardy for an appointment because you got stuck in traffic, or maybe you just slept late and you don't have good time management skills. Whatever the excuse, being tardy almost always annoys whoever's waiting for you. As a reality TV star once crooned, "Don't be tardy for the party." The word comes from the Latin tardus, meaning "slow."
Vocabulary lists containing tardy
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The Chocolate War
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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:
Those of us who languish in the academic wasteland are too tardy to lament, so little has changed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
In “Back to the Future,” Tolkan portrayed Vice Principal Gerald Strickland, who surveyed the school’s halls with a whistle around his neck and a tardy slip burning a hole in his pocket.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
She told her teachers that she was still going to be tardy, and besides, she liked the exercise.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026
The latest, if tardy, look at the labor market wasn’t so bad at first glance.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 20, 2025
This is where she gets to call out the names of anyone late on their dues or tardy for meetings or not fulfilling their philanthropic duties.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
The next morning he slept over; was tardier at his desk than he has almost ever been, arriving shortly after ten.
From Time Magazine Archive
The effect here is tardier than when the speck of putrid liquid was employed.
From Fragments of science, V. 1-2 by John Tyndall
ARBITER: A mite tardier than lightning but still promptly stated .
From NATURAE by Dom
French, like English, which had a yet tardier literary growth, has pursued its course unhasting, unresting, to the present hour.
From A Short History of French Literature by George Saintsbury
"Your heels are tardier now than they were at Worcester!"
From The Pigeon Pie by Charlotte Mary Yonge
TAP Air Portugal is one of the tardiest of airlines.
From Seattle Times ● May 1, 2023
The tardiest opening gavel was only 15 minutes late; with Missouri's vote, Nixon's renomination came only eight minutes late.
From Time Magazine Archive
Barely had the tardiest Intelligencer employees got away when the enveloping jaws of the weed closed tight, catching millions of dollars' worth of property within.
From Greener Than You Think by Ward Moore
But Meriones, stout squire of Idomeneus, came in a spear-throw behind famous Menelaos, for tardiest of all were his sleek-coated horses, and slowest he himself to drive a chariot in the race.
From The Iliad by Homer
Each waited long before his opportunity came; each learned that the "tardiest of the immortals are the boon Hours."
From The Galaxy, April, 1877 Vol. XXIII.—April, 1877.—No. 4. by Various
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
