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

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

From BBC

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”.

From BBC

“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

The idea is to accommodate slow play after more than a quarter of PGA Tour events were unable to complete a round before darkness because play was tardy.

From BBC

Morrissey asserted that the tardy disclosure of the Teske rounds did not hamper Baldwin’s defense because his attorneys apparently knew about the ammunition before the trial.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• belated 
• delayed 
• delinquent 
• overdue 
• sluggish