Dilatory — Dil a*to*ry, a. [L. dilatorius, fr. dilator a delayer, fr. dilatus, used as p. p. of differe to defer, delay: cf. F. dilatoire. See {Dilate}, {Differ}, {Defer}.] 1. Inclined to defer or put off what ought to be done at once; given the… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
dilatory — [dil′ə tôr΄ē] adj. [ME dilatorie < LL dilatorius < L dilator, dilatory person < dilatus, pp. of differre, DEFER1] 1. causing or tending to cause delay; meant to gain time, defer action, etc. 2. inclined to delay; slow or late in doing… … English World dictionary
dilatory — late 15c., from L.L. dilatorius, from dilator procrastinator, from dilatus, serving as pp. of differe delay (see DEFER (Cf. defer)) … Etymology dictionary
dilatory — *slow, laggard, deliberate, leisurely Analogous words: procrastinating, delaying, dawdling (see DELAY): *negligent, neglectful, lax, slack, remiss Antonyms: diligent Contrasted words: *busy, assiduous, sedulous, industrious: *quick, prompt, ready … New Dictionary of Synonyms
dilatory — meaning ‘given to or causing delay’, is pronounced dil tǝ ri. The same stress pattern applies, rather more awkwardly, to the derivative forms dilatorily and dilatoriness … Modern English usage
dilatory — [adj] procrastinating backward, behindhand, dallying, delaying, deliberate, laggard, late, lax, lazy, leisurely, lingering, loitering, moratory, neglectful, negligent, putting off, remiss, slack, slow, sluggish, snail like*, tardy, tarrying, time … New thesaurus
dilatory — ► ADJECTIVE 1) slow to act. 2) intended to cause delay. DERIVATIVES dilatoriness noun. ORIGIN Latin dilatorius, from dilator delayer … English terms dictionary
dilatory — adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo French dilatorie, Late Latin dilatorius, from Latin differre (past participle dilatus) to postpone, differ more at differ, tolerate Date: 15th century 1. tending or intended to cause delay < dilator … New Collegiate Dictionary
dilatory — [[t]dɪ̱lətri, AM tɔːri[/t]] ADJ GRADED Someone or something that is dilatory is slow and causes delay. [FORMAL] You might expect politicians to smooth things out when civil servants are being dilatory … English dictionary
dilatory — adjective 1) he had been dilatory in appointing an executor Syn: slow, tardy, unhurried, sluggish, sluggardly, snaillike, lazy Ant: fast, prompt 2) dilatory procedural tactics Syn … Thesaurus of popular words
