behindhand
behindhand adjective: late, tardy, overdue, behind (in accomplishing a task, etc.).
Adjective
behindhand (comparative more behindhand, superlative most behindhand)
- Late, tardy, overdue, behind (in accomplishing a task, etc.).
- These days before the examinations began were very difficult for everybody, and Perrin began that hideous “getting behind-hand” that made things accumulate so that there seemed no chance of ever catching up.1911, Hugh Walpole, chapter 11, in Mr. Perrin and Mr. Traill, London: Macmillan, published 1919, page 221
- Not at the expected point of completion.
- It was now the season for planting and sowing; many gardens and allotments of the villagers had already received their spring tillage; but the garden and the allotment of the Durbeyfields were behindhand.1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter 50, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles
- It was churning day, and there was baking to be done, and the mending was behindhand, and the children needed clothes […]1904, Edith Ferguson Black, chapter 8, in A Princess in Calico, Philadelphia: The Union Press, page 97
- Behind (someone or something moving, a trend, etc.), lagging behind, not keeping up.
- I have constantly observed, that the generality of people are fifty years, at least, behind-hand in their politicks.1770, Edmund Burke, Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents, London: J. Dodsley, page 5
- [The public] is so in awe of its own opinion, that it never dares to form any, but catches up the first idle rumour, lest it should be behind-hand in its judgment, and echoes it till it is deafened with the sound of its own voice.1821, William Hazlitt, “On living to one’s-self”, in Table-Talk, London: John Warren, page 227
- Behind in paying a debt; in arrears.
- Leo. ... theſe thy offices
(So rarely kind) are as Interpreters
Of my behind-hand ſlackneſſe.1623, William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale, Act V, Scene 1 - He’s sadly behindhand with his rent, as I was saying, but if he’s really ill, I must see after Sheepshanks, who is a hardish man of business.1864 August – 1866 January, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, Wives and Daughters. An Every-day Story. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1866, →OCLC
- Leo. ... theſe thy offices
- Not having enough of, lacking (in something).
- […] I have had for some time a very difficult and laborious respiration, but I am better by purges, abstinence, and other methods. I am yet however much behind-hand in my health and rest.1777, Samuel Johnson, Letter to James Boswell dated 25 November, 1777, cited in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, London: Charles Dilly, 1791, Volume 2, p. 178
- Inferior, less advanced (compared with someone in something).
- […] I’ll shew you I scorn to be behind-hand in Civility with you; and as you are not angry for what I have said, so I am not angry for what you have said.1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 6, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book XV, page 148
- He had enough of that faculty of small talk to be sufficiently eloquent upon insignificant topics; he could point a compliment, or envelope a double meaning with all the readiness of a practitioner in that commodious art, and indeed he was not behindhand with any man of modern honour in the true...1795, Richard Cumberland, Henry, London: Charles Dilly, Volume 4, Book 11, Chapter 10, p. 184
Adverb
behindhand (comparative more behindhand, superlative most behindhand)
behindhand meaning in Malayalam
behindhand in Malayalam
- behind schedule, behind time, behind
- വിളംബിതമായി, താമസിച്ച്, നിശ്ചിതസമയം കഴിഞ്ഞ്, നിർദ്ദിഷ്ടസമയം കഴിഞ്ഞ്, സമയക്രമം തെറ്റിച്ച്, സമയപരിധിക്കകം തീർക്കാനാവാതെ
Examples of behindhand in a sentence
- Not long after the start Mr Bhosh was chagrined to discover that he was all behindhand, and he almost despaired of overtaking any of his fore-runners.1902, F. Anstey, chapter 13, in A Bayard from Bengal, London: Methuen, pages 97–98:
- And their assembled friends, being not a bit behindhand, roared out lustily.1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Three. The Second of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […]...
- And so literary an imagination as Blunden’s was of course not behindhand in recalling and applying Morris.1975, Paul Fussell, chapter 4, in The Great War and Modern Memory, Oxford University Press, pages 136–137:
Synonyms of behindhand
Forms of behindhand
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more behindhand |
| superlative | most behindhand |
| alternative form | behind-hand |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more behindhand |
| superlative | most behindhand |
Origin of behindhand
From behind + hand.
Words formed from behindhand
Questions about behindhand
- What does behindhand mean?
- Behindhand means late, tardy, overdue, behind (in accomplishing a task, etc.).
- What is behindhand in Malayalam?
- Behindhand in Malayalam is വിളംബിതമായി, താമസിച്ച്, നിശ്ചിതസമയം കഴിഞ്ഞ്. See Behindhand meaning in Malayalam.
- How do you use behindhand in a sentence?
- Not long after the start Mr Bhosh was chagrined to discover that he was all behindhand, and he almost despaired of overtaking any of his fore-runners.
- What part of speech is behindhand?
- Behindhand can be an adjective or an adverb.
Words near behindhand in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: behindhand (page history and authors); behindhand (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-behindhand.wav.
Cite this entry: “behindhand.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/behindhand. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.