tardy

English

Etymology

From an earlier tardive, from Old French tardif, from Vulgar Latin *tardivus, from Latin tardus (“slow”, “sluggish”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɑː(r)di

Adjective

tardy (comparative tardier, superlative tardiest)

1. Late; overdue or delayed.

   He yawned, then raised a tardy hand over his mouth.

2. ineffectual; slow witted, slow to act, or dullard

   His tardy performance bordered on incompetence.

Synonyms

• belated
• delayed

Usage notes

• The term suggests habitual lateness.
• Somewhat dated.

Translations

later in relation to the proper time

• Dutch: te laat (nl) n
• Estonian: viivitunud (et)
• French: tardif (fr)
• German: verspätet (de)
• Japanese: 遅刻 (ja) (chikoku)

• Portuguese: tardio (pt)
• Russian: запоздалый (ru) (zapozdalyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: deireannach (gd)
• Swedish: försenad (sv), sen (sv)
• Turkish: gecikmiş (tr), geç (tr)

ineffectual; slow witted, slow to act, or dullard

• Dutch: dom, lanzaam reagerend (nl)
• German: langsam (de), säumig (de)
• Japanese: 遅い (ja) (osoi), 鈍い (ja) (nibui)

• Russian: медлительный (ru) (medlitelʹnyj)
• Turkish: ağırdan alan (tr), yavaş (tr)

Noun

tardy (plural tardies)

1. (US) A piece of paper given to students who are late to class.

   The teacher gave her a tardy because she did not come into the classroom until after the bell.

See also

• tardy slip

Verb

tardy (third-person singular simple present tardies, present participle tardying, simple past and past participle tardied)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To make tardy.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)