tardy

[tahr-dee]

adjective

tardier, tardiest 

1. late; behind time; not on time.

   How tardy were you today?

   Synonyms: slack
   Antonyms: punctual, prompt

2. moving or acting slowly; slow; sluggish.

3. delaying through reluctance.

   Synonyms: dilatory

tardy

/ ˈtɑːdɪ /

adjective

1. occurring later than expected

   tardy retribution

2. slow in progress, growth, etc

   a tardy reader

Other Word Forms

• tardily adverb
• tardiness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of tardy¹

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; -ive

Word History and Origins

Origin of tardy¹

C15: from Old French tardif, from Latin tardus slow

Example Sentences

Douglass noted the paradox: For abolitionists Lincoln seemed “tardy, cold, dull, and indifferent,” yet by the measure of public sentiment he was obliged to weigh, Lincoln proved “swift, zealous, radical, and determined.”

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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.

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"I'm a little tardy with the paper work," he told Irish broadcaster RTÉ.

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In the blurb to the exhibition, Wintour writes that she has “probably spent a year of my life waiting for fashion shows, which are famously tardy, to begin”.

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“The effort is praiseworthy, but so excessively tardy that it is perfectly useless,” a collective of linguists wrote in the Liberation newspaper on Thursday.

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Related Words

• belated 
• delayed 
• delinquent 
• overdue 
• sluggish