Word.ws English Dictionary

dilatory

/ˈdɪlət(ə)ɹi/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

rare/daɪˈleɪt(ə)ɹi/

dilatory adjective: intentionally delaying (someone or something), intended to cause delay, gain time, or adjourn decision.

Adjective (1)

dilatory (not comparable)

  1. Intentionally delaying (someone or something), intended to cause delay, gain time, or adjourn decision.
    • a dilatory strategy
    • Alva, as usual, brought his dilatory policy to bear upon his adversary with great effect.1856, John Lothrop Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic. A History. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC
  2. Slow or tardy.

Adjective (2)

dilatory (not comparable)

  1. Relating to dilation; dilative.

dilatory meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu

dilatory in Tamil

காலங்கடத்தும், காலம் நீட்டிக்கும்

dilatory in Urdu

ڈھیلا, کاہل

dilatory in Bengali

বিলম্ব ঘটায় এমন, ধীরগতিসম্পন্ন

dilatory in Telugu

intentionally delaying
దీర్ఘసూత్రత dīrghasūtrata
slow or tardy
జాగుచేసే jāgucēsē
More languagesFewer languages
dilatory in Malayalam
താമസമുള്ള, കാലതാമസം വരുത്താനുള്ള, ചുറുചുറുക്കില്ലാത്ത, വിളംബനം വരുത്തുന്ന
dilatory in Kannada
ತಡಮಾಡುವ, ಮೆಲ್ಲಗಿನ, ಕಾಲಹರಣ ಮಾಡುವ, ವಿಳಂಬಕಾರಿ

Origin of dilatory

From Middle English dilatorie, from Old French dilatoire, from Latin dīlātōrius (“extending or putting off (time)”), from dīlātor, from differō. Not etymologically related to delay.

Words formed from dilatory

Questions about dilatory

What does dilatory mean?
Dilatory means intentionally delaying (someone or something), intended to cause delay, gain time, or adjourn decision.
What is dilatory in Tamil?
Dilatory in Tamil is காலங்கடத்தும், காலம் நீட்டிக்கும். See Dilatory meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is dilatory?
Dilatory is an adjective.
How do you pronounce dilatory?
Dilatory is pronounced /ˈdɪlət(ə)ɹi/ (UK).

Words near dilatory in the dictionary

  1. dilator
  2. dilatorily
  3. dilatoriness
  4. dilatorinesses
  5. dilators
  6. dilatory
  7. Dilaudid
  8. Dilaudids
  9. dilaurate
  10. dilaurates
  11. dilaurin

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dilatory (page history and authors); dilatory (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); dilatory (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); dilatory (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); dilatory (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); dilatory (Kannada Wiktionary) (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-dilatory.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-dilatory.wav.

Cite this entry: “dilatory.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dilatory. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.