adjective
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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
Orbiting Jupiter
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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:
She says states accepted tardy mail ballots amid World War I, while seven authorized the practice during the 1940s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
The latest, if tardy, look at the labor market wasn’t so bad at first glance.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 20, 2025
In October 2013, the inflation and employment reports for the prior month were also tardy by nearly two weeks because of a 16-day government shutdown.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
“The effort is praiseworthy, but so excessively tardy that it is perfectly useless,” a collective of linguists wrote in the Liberation newspaper on Thursday.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2024
“I know I could,” the colonel responded tardy.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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
Not tardier now is Saturn than of old, Nor radiant less the burning casque of Mars.
From Poemata : Latin, Greek and Italian Poems by John Milton by William Cowper
The slight green of uncurling leaves, the airy scarlet of the maples, the bare branches of the tardier trees, opposed no barrier to the sunlight.
From To Have and to Hold by Mary Johnston
The effect here is tardier than when the speck of putrid liquid was employed.
From Fragments of science, V. 1-2 by John Tyndall
Lady Dorinda put another seed in her mouth, and reflected that Zélie's attendance was tardier than usual.
From The Lady of Fort St. John by Mary Hartwell Catherwood
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
Her throat was bare, and her dusky hair was a shade dishevelled, and in her meditative eyes he caught the flicker of her tardiest dream just as it vanished.
From Gallantry Dizain des Fetes Galantes by James Branch Cabell
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
America has been the tardiest among all the industrial nations to undertake this kind of social reform.
From Modern Economic Problems Economics Volume II by Frank Albert Fetter
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.
