Definition of BELATED

Did You Know?

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." Eventually, "belate" itself fell out of use, leaving behind "belated" as an adjective that preserved the original notion of delay. 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

She received belated recognition for her scientific discovery.

Recent Examples on the Web

The belated referral of the issue to judicial authorities and what was widely viewed as insufficient action at the time by the Elysee Palace has triggered a firestorm from the opposition. — Fox News, "French investigators raid home of Macron's bodyguard," 21 July 2018 Despite the belated announcement of her performance, James, an alum of the reality show R&B Divas: Los Angeles, was actually the first musical act of the night. — Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "This Soul Singer Brought a Choir to the Victoria's Secret Runway," 9 Nov. 2018 The belated addition of the feature would be a little surprising because Apple doesn’t seem too enamored with SIM cards in the first place. — Sam Byford, The Verge, "Why Apple might make a dual-SIM iPhone," 29 Aug. 2018 Spring has finally made its belated appearance, at least weather-wise. — Jane Napier Neely, latimes.com, "The Valley Line: Beauty of nature captured in local woman’s paintings now on display at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital," 26 Mar. 2018 Thank you for my belated but perfect birthday dinner!! — Lucy Wood, Marie Claire, "Khloé Kardashian and Tristan Thompson Were Incredibly Loved-Up in Mexico," 16 Aug. 2018 Making a belated Chicago debut at Park West, Hixson turned in a performance that raised many questions, but especially one: What took her so long to play Chicago? — Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, "Singer Maud Hixson makes a stand in Chicago — finally," 20 June 2018 Late in the evening of Feb. 14, the embattled leader of what used to be Africa’s most promising nation delivered a belated Valentine’s gift to his people. — Time, "Jacob Zuma Is Gone. Here's What South Africa Has to Do Next," 15 Feb. 2018 And its belated attempts to muscle its way into businesses such as consumer lending have failed to transform the company into a real competitor of commercial banks like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup. — Kate Kelly, New York Times, "The Next Goldman Chief Could Be a Banker Who Moonlights as a D.J.," 12 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'belated.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.