belated
Syllables: be·lat·ed/bɪˈleɪtɪd//bəˈleɪtɪd/
belated adjective: affected or overtaken by the lateness of the time; hence, synonym of benighted (“overtaken by night; caught out by oncoming night before reaching one's destination”). Also the simple past and past participle of belate.
Adjective
belated (comparative more belated, superlative most belated)
- Affected or overtaken by the lateness of the time; hence, synonym of benighted (“overtaken by night; caught out by oncoming night before reaching one's destination”).
- […] Faerie Elves, / VVhoſe midnight Revels, by a Forreſt ſide / Or Fountain ſome belated Peaſant ſees, / Or dreams he ſees, […]1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC, signatures D...
- At first the steps of a few belated villagers, or the sound of voices from the village, lightened our vigil, but one by one these interruptions died away, and an absolute stillness fell upon us, save for the chimes of the distant church, which told us of the progress of the night, […]1904 February 27, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of Black Peter”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., published February 1905, →OCLC, page 172
- Antonyms:
- unbelated
- Later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened; specifically, delayed beyond the proper time.
- A belated happy birthday to you!
- Henceforth vve are to ſtear by another ſort of Authors; neer enough to the things they vvrite, as in thir ovvn Countrie, if that vvould ſerve; in time not much belated, ſome of equal age; […]1670, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call’d England. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for James Allestry, […] , →OCLC, page 97
- Antonyms:
- unbelated
- Slow to learn or to adopt a trend; hence, lacking education or sophistication; benighted, unenlightened, unsophisticated.
- The devil drives the world, whip in hand,—and oddly enough (considering that some belated folk still fancy there is a God somewhere) succeeds in managing his team with extraordinary ease!1895, Marie Corelli, chapter III, in The Sorrows of Satan: or The Strange Experience of One Geoffrey Tempest, Millionaire […], London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC, pages 23–24
- Synonyms:
- backward, uneducated, benighted, cimmerian, clueless, foolish, ignorant, ill-informed, illiterate, innocent
Also used as
belated is also the simple past and past participle of belate.
belated meaning in Tagalog and Vietnamese
belated in Tagalog
- later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
- haból, hulí, tighaból
belated in Vietnamese
- later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
- muộn màng
Examples of belated in a sentence
- Gosling was late to start her report, but styled it out with a smooth "belated good morning".
- It started a few months ago when this megalogue finally prodded me into belated action.
- A belated freshman, his oilskin slicker rasping loudly, slushed along the soft path.
Synonyms of belated
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- cimmerian
- clueless
- foolish
- ignorant
- ill-informed
- illiterate
- innocent
- nescient
- oblivious
- philistine
- tenebrose
- unaware
- uncultivated
- uncultured
- unenlightened
- unerudite
- uninformed
- unknowing
- unknowledgeable
- unlearned
- unlearnt
- unlettered
- unmindful
- unread
- unscholarly
- unschooled
- untaught
- untrained
- untutored
- unwitting
Antonyms
Forms of belated
| comparative | more belated |
|---|---|
| superlative | most belated |
Origin of belated
From belate (verb) + -ed (suffix forming adjectives, and past tense and past participle forms of regular verbs).
Words formed from belated
Words that rhyme with belated
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- stated
- truncated
- abated
- dehydrated
- dilated
- grated
- lirated
- outdated
- sated
- serrated
- undated
- antedated
- awaited
- backdated
- baited
- bated
- berated
- castrated
- collated
- conflated
- crated
- created
- cremated
- curated
- debated
- donated
- elated
- equated
- estimated
- fated
- fixated
- freighted
- gaited
- hated
- interrelated
- located
- mated
- misdated
- narrated
- negated
- nipple-dilated
- orated
- overdrawn
- overinflated
- overrated
- overstated
- prated
- pulsated
Questions about belated
- What does belated mean?
- Belated means affected or overtaken by the lateness of the time; hence, synonym of benighted (“overtaken by night; caught out by oncoming night before reaching one's destination”).
- What is belated in Tagalog?
- Belated in Tagalog is haból, hulí, tighaból. See Belated meaning in Tagalog.
- What part of speech is belated?
- Belated is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce belated?
- Belated is pronounced /bɪˈleɪtɪd/ (UK).
Words near belated in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: belated (page history and authors). 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-belated.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-belated.wav.
Cite this entry: “belated.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/belated. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.