First Known Use: 15th century
Dictionary
dilatory
adjective dil·a·to·ry \ˈdi-lə-ˌtȯr-ē\
: causing a delay
: tending to be late : slow to do something
Full Definition of DILATORY
1
: tending or intended to cause delay <dilatory tactics>
2
: characterized by procrastination : tardy <dilatory in paying bills>
— dil·a·to·ri·ly \ˌdi-lə-ˈtȯr-ə-lē\ adverb
— dil·a·to·ri·ness \ˈdi-lə-ˌtȯr-ē-nəs\ noun
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Origin of DILATORY
Related to DILATORY
- Synonyms
- crawling, creeping, dallying, dawdling, slow, dillydallying, dragging, laggard, lagging, languid, leisurely, poking, poky (or pokey), sluggish, snaillike, snail-paced, tardy, unhurried
- Antonyms
- barreling, bolting, breakneck, breathless, brisk, careering, dizzy, fast, fleet, flying, hasty, hurrying, lightning, meteoric, quick, racing, rapid, rocketing, running, rushing, scooting, scudding, scurrying, snappy, speeding, speedy, swift, warp-speed, whirling, whirlwind, whisking, zipping
Rhymes with DILATORY
a priori, allegory, amatory, auditory, bedtime story, cacciatore, castratory, category, con amore, cover story, crematory, damnatory, decretory, dormitory, excretory, expletory, feudatory, fumitory, Göteborg, gustatory, gyratory, horror story, hortatory, hunky-dory, inventory, laudatory, lavatory, mandatory, migratory, minatory, monitory, Montessori, morning glory, nugatory, offertory, oratory, overstory, piscatory, precatory, predatory, prefatory, probatory, promissory, promontory, purgatory, repertory, Ruwenzori, signatory, statutory, sudatory, territory, transitory, understory, vibratory, vomitory, yakitori
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