Standard Lemma guide

belated

adj · verb · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /bɪˈleɪtɪd/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /bəˈleɪtɪd/
  • General-American: /bi-/
  • General-American: [-ɾɪd]
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪtɪd
  • CMU ARPABET: B IH0 L EY1 T IH0 D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Affected or overtaken by the lateness of the time; hence, synonym of benighted (“overtaken by night; caught out by oncoming night before reaching one's destination”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: lated, nighted

Antonyms: unbelated

2

adj

Meaning 2

Later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened; specifically, delayed beyond the proper time.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • A belated happy birthday to you!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: lated, tardive, tardy, late, backward, behindhand, belated, overdue

Antonyms: unbelated

3

adj

Meaning 3

Slow to learn or to adopt a trend; hence, lacking education or sophistication; benighted, unenlightened, unsophisticated.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: backward, uneducated, benighted, cimmerian, clueless, foolish, ignorant, ill-informed, illiterate, innocent, lack-learning, lay, lewd, loreless, nescient, oblivious, philistine, tenebrose, unaware, uncultivated, uncultured, unenlightened, unerudite, uninformed, unknowing, unknowledgeable, unlearned, unlearnt, unlettered, unmindful, unread, unscholarly, unschooled, untaught, untrained, untutored, unwitting, artless, callow, childlike, verdant, credulous, dewy-eyed, cute, fleeceable, foppotee, green, guileless, ingenuous, jejune, Panglossian, Panglossic, quaint, simple, simple-hearted, simple-minded, starry-eyed, unaffected, undesigning, unpretentious, unsophisticated, untested, unworldly, wide-eyed, immature, born yesterday, wet behind the ears, virgin

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

simple past and past participle of belate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, participle, past

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

after the expected or usual time; delayed

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a belated birthday card
  • I'm late for the plane
  • the train is late
  • tardy children are sent to the principal
  • always tardy in making dental appointments

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: late, tardy

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h1ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h1épsder. Proto-Indo-European *h1epider. Proto-Indo-European *h1pi Proto-Germanic *bider. Proto-Germanic *bi- Proto-West Germanic *bi- Old English be- Middle English bi- English be- English late English belate Old English -ed Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh2tos Proto-Germanic *-ōdaz Old English -od Middle English -ed English -ed English belated From belate (verb) + -ed (suffix forming adjectives, and past tense and past participle forms of regular verbs).

Across languages

Translations

62 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: myöhästynyt — affected or overtaken by the lateness of the time
  • Belarusian: запо́знены (zapóznjeny) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Bulgarian: окъснял (okǎsnjal) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Bulgarian: закъснял (zakǎsnjal) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Chinese Mandarin: 遲來的 /迟来的 (chíláide) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Chinese Mandarin: 晚到的 (wǎndàode) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Czech: opožděný — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Dutch: laattijdig — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Dutch: verlaat — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Estonian: hiline — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Estonian: hilinenud — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Finnish: myöhäinen — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Finnish: myöhäsyntyinen — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Finnish: myöhästynyt — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • French: tardif — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Galician: serodio — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Georgian: დაგვიანებული (dagvianebuli) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Georgian: დრომოჭმული (dromoč̣muli) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • German: nachträglich — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • German: säumig — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • German: verspätet — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Greek: καθυστερημένη (kathysteriméni) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Hebrew: רָחוֹק (rakhók) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Hebrew: מְאֻחָר (m'ukhár) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Hungarian: elkésett — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Hungarian: idejétmúlt — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Hungarian: időszerűtlen — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Hungarian: késő — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Hungarian: megkésett — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Italian: tardivo — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Japanese: 遅ればせながら (okurebasenagara) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Japanese: 遅れた (okureta) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Korean: 때늦다 (ttaeneutda) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Latvian: vȩ̂ls — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Macedonian: неблаговремен (neblagovremen) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Macedonian: ненавремен (nenavremen) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Northern Mansi: юв-хультум (ûv-hulʹtum) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Norwegian: forsinket — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Norwegian: på etterskudd — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Occitan: tardiu — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Occitan: tardívol — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Polish: opóźniony — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Polish: zaległy — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Portuguese: atrasado — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Portuguese: tardio — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Russian: по́здненький (pózdnenʹkij) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Russian: позднова́тый (pozdnovátyj) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Russian: запозда́лый (zapozdályj) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Scots: ahinthand — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Spanish: serondo — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Spanish: tardío — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Swedish: försenad — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Swedish: i efterskott — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Swedish: senkommen — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Tagalog: haból — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Tagalog: hulí — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Tagalog: tighaból — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Tausug: tarasaw — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Turkish: geçmiş — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Ukrainian: запізні́лий (zapiznílyj) — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Vietnamese: muộn màng — later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened
  • Finnish: myöhäinen — slow to learn or to adopt a trend
Real reading context

belated in complete knowledge articles