procrastinate
verb
Did you know?
We won't put off telling you about out the origins of procrastinate: it comes from the Latin prefix pro-, meaning "forward," and crastinus, meaning "of tomorrow." To procrastinate is to work or move slowly so as to fall behind; it implies blameworthy delay especially through laziness or apathy. English has other words with similar meanings, such as defer and postpone, but none places the blame so directly on the person responsible for choosing a later time to do something. Procrastinate is also a malleable word: English speakers have wasted no time creating clever variations, most of them delightfully self-explanatory. Don't let coinages like procrastibake, procrastinetflix, and procrasticlean pass you by; they may not meet our criteria for entry into the dictionary, but their potentials for use are undeniable.
Examples of procrastinate in a Sentence
Kristen Baldwin, Entertainment Weekly, 23 Oct. 2025
Nolan, an elections veteran, has sage advice for voters who may be procrastinating at filling out and returning their ballots.
—Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 20 Oct. 2025
Even among clothing and footwear purveyors that remain unshaken in their promises, nearly two-thirds are procrastinating on their decarbonization schedules, a recent McKinsey study found.
—Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 8 Oct. 2025
Hunnam procrastinated out of fear, taking another job before beginning the process of discovering Gein.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 30 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for procrastinate
Cite this Entry
“Procrastinate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/procrastinate. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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procrastinate
verb
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