delay 1 of 2

noun

di-ˈlā How to pronounce delay (audio)
Definition of delaynext
as in wait
an instance or period of being prevented from going about one's business there was a delay for our boarding while the airplane unloaded incoming passengers

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

delay

2 of 2

verb

1
as in to linger
to move or act slowly she ordered the kids to stop delaying and to get to bed

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to postpone
to assign to a later time our guests delayed their departure until after dinner

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How is the word delay different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of delay are dally, dawdle, lag, loiter, and procrastinate. While all these words mean "to move or act slowly so as to fall behind," delay usually implies a putting off of something (such as a beginning or departure).

we cannot delay any longer

Where would dally be a reasonable alternative to delay?

The words dally and delay can be used in similar contexts, but dally suggests delay through trifling or vacillation when promptness is necessary.

stop dallying and get to work

When can lag be used instead of delay?

In some situations, the words lag and delay are roughly equivalent. However, lag implies failure to maintain a speed set by others.

lagging behind in technology

How do loiter and dawdle relate to one another, in the sense of delay?

Both loiter and dawdle imply delay while in progress, especially in walking, but dawdle more clearly suggests an aimless wasting of time.

loitered at several store windows
children dawdling on their way home from school

When is procrastinate a more appropriate choice than delay?

The synonyms procrastinate and delay are sometimes interchangeable, but procrastinate implies blameworthy delay especially through laziness or apathy.

procrastinates about making decisions

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of delay
Noun
She's had months to do ANYTHING real and all she's done is delay and cover for elite p*dos. —Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 July 2025 Federal funding for Penn Station won’t last forever, and construction costs only increase with delays. —Carlo Scissura, New York Daily News, 11 July 2025
Verb
The flight has since been delayed and is now expected to depart from Sydney at 7:25 a.m. —Brenton Blanchet, People.com, 12 July 2025 The proposal was delayed, but officials eventually created a system of 21 gauges up and down the Guadalupe and its tributaries. —Curt Devine, CNN Money, 11 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for delay
Recent Examples of Synonyms for delay
  1. wait
  2. linger
  3. postpone
  4. drag
  5. defer
  6. crawl
  7. poke
  8. lag
Noun
  • Across the United States, the average wait time is 48 days between when a patient initially contacts a provider for mental healthcare and their first appointment.
    — Amanda Marlar, Forbes.com, 15 July 2025
  • Vance's visit disrupted park operations as security measures increased, resulting in prolonged wait times and temporary ride closures for other guests, according to The Independent.
    — Amanda Castro, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 July 2025
Definition of wait
Verb
  • This slight chance of thunderstorms lingers into Wednesday as the upper low passes over the region.
    — CA WILDFIRE BOT, Sacbee.com, 9 July 2025
  • But there are still lingering worries about how long Amazon and Apple will keep movies in theaters before sending them to streaming.
    — Pamela McClintock, HollywoodReporter, 9 July 2025
Definition of linger
Verb
  • Investigations into the storm's impact are ongoing, and Fourth of July events in several towns have been canceled or postponed.
    — Amanda Castro, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 July 2025
  • By subsidizing inefficient programs and unnecessary administrators, the Golden Age of Master’s Degrees postponed higher education’s day of reckoning: the day colleges and universities will be held accountable for the economic outcomes of their graduates.
    — Ryan Craig, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025
Definition of postpone
Verb
  • That’s good for everyone, even expat journalists dragging their kids along to cover a new story.
    — Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 11 July 2025
  • The plucky little superdog drags Superman to the Fortress of Solitude, where he is treated by a posse of robots.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 11 July 2025
Definition of drag
Verb
  • Non-grantor trusts may also be used to defer or avoid state income tax.
    — Martin Shenkman, Forbes.com, 14 July 2025
  • For example, someone who falls behind on the bills because of job loss would no longer qualify to defer student loan payments, Bañez said.
    — Anne Marie D. Lee, CBS News, 11 July 2025
Definition of defer
Verb
  • In particular, website owners and SEO experts wanted to know how Cloudflare planned to block Google's bot from scraping sites to fuel AI overviews without risking blocking the same bot from crawling for valuable search engine placements.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 9 July 2025
  • Both are unable, under any circumstances, to resist crawling under someone doing a downward-facing dog.
    — Erika Sjule, New Yorker, 8 July 2025
Definition of crawl
Verb
  • The hard foul came after Sheldon poked Clark in the eye in the third quarter.
    — Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 13 July 2025
  • The couple began dating in 2023 and frequently poke fun at each other on their social media pages.
    — Caroline Blair, People.com, 11 July 2025
Definition of poke
Verb
  • For a company of Apple’s scale and stature, lagging behind its major competitors on AI is like lagging behind the competition on the internet in 2000.
    — Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 12 July 2025
  • More politics news: ICE agents arrested roughly 30,000 immigrants last month, the most in at least five years, but deportations are lagging far behind what Trump has promised.
    — Josh Feldman, NBC news, 10 July 2025
Definition of lag

Browse Nearby Words

dekes
delay
delayed
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Cite this Entry

“Delay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/delay. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.

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