We won't put off telling you about out the origins of procrastinate: it comes from the Latin prefix pro-, meaning "forward," and crastinus, "of tomorrow." The word means moving or acting slowly so as to fall behind, and it implies blameworthy delay especially through laziness or apathy.
delay usually implies a putting off of something (such as a beginning or departure).
we cannot delay any longer
procrastinate implies blameworthy delay especially through laziness or apathy.
procrastinates about making decisions
lag implies failure to maintain a speed set by others.
lagging behind in technology
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
dally suggests delay through trifling or vacillation when promptness is necessary.
stop dallying and get to work
Example Sentences
He procrastinated and missed the submission deadline. He told her to stop procrastinating and get to work.
Recent Examples on the WebAnd, per a separate in-app survey from the same year, about 35% of Tinder users admitted to using the app as a way to procrastinate at work. Chloe Berger, Fortune, 12 Aug. 2022 In addition, the researchers discovered that especially those people who procrastinate before going to bed also tend to put things off in other ways. Janosch Deeg, Scientific American, 19 July 2022 Please don’t procrastinate, because this is serious. Abigail Van Buren, oregonlive, 17 Aug. 2022 Another survey found that 88% of people procrastinate at least one hour a day.Fortune, 3 Aug. 2022 In addition, lack of sleep worsens self-regulation, which can further increase the tendency to procrastinate—a vicious cycle. Janosch Deeg, Scientific American, 19 July 2022 Some may also procrastinate on completing services, which has the same effect. Expert Panel®, Forbes, 13 June 2022 Share specific feedback, and don’t procrastinate on closing the loop. Expert Panel®, Forbes, 3 June 2022 Please, pretty please, don’t procrastinate again until October 17th to begin filing. David Rae, Forbes, 9 Apr. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Latin procrastinatus, past participle of procrastinare, from pro- forward + crastinus of tomorrow, from cras tomorrow