belated
adjective
William Pittenger
Did you know?
Don't worry about being late to the party if you don't know the history of belated; you're right on time. Long ago, there was a verb belate, which meant "to make late." From the beginning, belate tended to mostly turn up in the form of its past participle, belated. When used as an adjective, belated originally meant "overtaken by night," as in "belated travelers seeking lodging for the night." This sense did not overstay its welcome; it was eventually overtaken by the "delayed" meaning we know today. As you may have guessed, belate and its descendant belated derive from the adjective late; belate was formed by simply combining the prefix be- ("to cause to be") with late.
Examples of belated in a Sentence
Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Sep. 2025
Joy speaks at length about growing up in a culturally sophisticated yet oppressive family and holding her artistic temperament in check, before achieving a belated liberation.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
Then, at the end of the episode, Slightly pulls Arthur’s body into a ventilation shaft, in what could be a belated act of regret or an attempt to preserve a Xenomorph host body before any other aliens can eat it.
—Noel Murray, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2025
Scrambling to recall a few staff and issue some belated funding is just window dressing.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for belated
Cite this Entry
“Belated.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/belated. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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belated
adjective
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