Word.ws English Dictionary

protracted

/pɹəˈtɹæk.tɪd/US/pɹoʊˈtɹæk.tɪd/

protracted is the simple past and past participle of protract.

Meaning of protract

Verb

protract (third-person singular simple present protracts, present participle protracting, simple past and past participle protracted)

  1. To draw out; to extend, especially in duration.
    • Doubtless he shrives this woman to her smock;
      Else ne'er could he so long protract his speech.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    Synonyms:
    prolong
  2. To use a protractor.
  3. To draw to a scale; to lay down the lines and angles of, with scale and protractor; to plot.
    • This is a synopsis of our marches, which, protracted on Burckhardt’s map, gives an error of ten miles.1856, Richard Francis Burton, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah, London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, Volume 3, Chapter 25, page 147, footnote
  4. To put off to a distant time; to delay; to defer.
    • to protract a decision or duty
  5. To extend; to protrude.
    • A cat can protract and retract its claws.

Adjective

protracted (comparative more protracted, superlative most protracted)

  1. Lasting for a long time or longer than expected or usual.
    • a protracted and bitter dispute
    • ... inheritance of protracted misery ...1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 5, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC

Synonyms of protracted

11 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Forms of protracted

comparativemore protracted
superlativemost protracted

Words formed from protracted

Questions about protracted

What does protracted mean?
Protracted means lasting for a long time or longer than expected or usual.
What is protracted the simple past and past participle of?
Protracted is the simple past and past participle of protract.
What part of speech is protracted?
Protracted is an adjective.
How do you pronounce protracted?
Protracted is pronounced /pɹəˈtɹæk.tɪd/ (UK).

Words near protracted in the dictionary

  1. protozooplankton
  2. protozooses
  3. protozoosis
  4. protract
  5. protractable
  6. protracted
  7. protractedly
  8. protractedness
  9. protracter
  10. protracters
  11. protractest

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: protracted (page history and authors); protract (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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