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
David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025
Please accept our belated apology.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 25 Jan. 2025
In April, Simpson shared some belated photos from her Easter celebrations with her family of five.
—Hannah Sacks, People.com, 14 Jan. 2025
The misguided focus on containment is a belated echo of the nuclear age, when the United States and others limited the spread of atomic bombs by restricting access to enriched uranium, by keeping an eye on what certain scientists were doing and by sending inspectors into labs and military bases.
—Zeynep Tufekci, The Mercury News, 12 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 11 Jul. 2025.
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belated
adjective
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