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
Regulators said when they filed the case that his tardy filing allowed him to spend less to buy up Twitter’s shares, saving him more than $150 million on the investment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026
Teachers accepted tardy excuses from parents of students stuck in gas lines.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026
The latest, if tardy, look at the labor market wasn’t so bad at first glance.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 20, 2025
“They don’t want tardy girls slipping past,” Mrs. Bedlow explained.
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
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
So there, Nor tardier, to his toil the Lord of Flame 478 Springs from his couch of down, the workmen's task to frame.
From The Æneid of Virgil Translated into English Verse by E. Fairfax Taylor by Taylor, Edward Fairfax
"Your heels are tardier now than they were at Worcester!"
From The Pigeon Pie by Yonge, Charlotte Mary
It reacted to divide his forces now, at least to make tardier his self-command.
From Son of Power by Comfort, Will Levington
It is true that a geometer, too, works for the public weal; but the process is tardier, and we may well pardon an impatience that sprung of reasoned zeal for the happiness of mankind.
From Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 2 of 3) Essay 3: Condorcet by Morley, John
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
Why is it that we see there both the dawn of civilization and the tardiest development of human progress?
From Beacon Lights of History, Volume 14 The New Era; A Supplementary Volume, by Recent Writers, as Set Forth in the Preface and Table of Contents by Lord, John
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 Cabell, James Branch
From the neglig�e of the tables, littered with the plates and dishes, dreary survivors of a dozen breakfasts, he divined that he was the tardiest guest in the household.
From The Fortune Hunter by Vance, Louis Joseph
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.
