as in wait
an instance or period of being prevented from going about one's business
there was a delay for our boarding while the airplane unloaded incoming passengers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to linger
to move or act slowly
she ordered the kids to stop delaying and to get to bed
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to postpone
to assign to a later time
our guests delayed their departure until after dinner
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of delay
Arvin Chaudhary, Hartford Courant, 16 Aug. 2025
Its star Zoe Saldaña already had a deal in place spanning three seasons but co-star Nicole Kidman had to make a new one for Season 3, which was a contributing factor to the delay, sourses said.
—Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 15 Aug. 2025
A.j. Russo, Baltimore Sun, 17 Aug. 2025
In fact, Trump last Monday delayed imposing additional tariffs on Chinese goods for another 90 days.
—Sean Conlon, CNBC, 17 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for delay
Noun
For public agencies and health care entities, cooperative purchasing contracts such as GSA, OMNIA, and NCPA can help expedite procurement while avoiding the costs and delays of traditional bidding processes.
—Arvin Chaudhary, Hartford Courant, 16 Aug. 2025
Its star Zoe Saldaña already had a deal in place spanning three seasons but co-star Nicole Kidman had to make a new one for Season 3, which was a contributing factor to the delay, sourses said.
—Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 15 Aug. 2025
Verb
Agencies will delay new funding announcements until the new review process is in place, potentially causing delays in grant cycles and project starts.
—A.j. Russo, Baltimore Sun, 17 Aug. 2025
In fact, Trump last Monday delayed imposing additional tariffs on Chinese goods for another 90 days.
—Sean Conlon, CNBC, 17 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for delay
Recent Examples of Synonyms for delay
Noun
-
In fact, as reported by The Lund Report, 30% of patients have left an appointment due to long waits, and 20% have switched doctors for the same reason.—
Ankit Kumar Agarwal,
Forbes.com,
6 Aug. 2025
-
Besides helping families, the program aims to reduce wait times in standard security lines, which are averaging 10 minutes or less, Silata said.—
Skyler Swisher,
The Orlando Sentinel,
5 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Debt from a 2018 restructuring lingered and mall traffic, especially in secondary locations, continued to decline.—
Kate Hardcastle,
Forbes.com,
14 Aug. 2025
-
Even as Andrew James McGann sits in jail accused of the ghastly double murder of parents on a hike at a state park in the Ozark Mountains, key questions linger about the motive.—
Alisha Ebrahimji,
CNN Money,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
However, due to unforeseen delays, the transaction is postponed.—
Wes Moss,
Forbes.com,
15 Aug. 2025
-
And in China, the premiere of a film about this gruesome episode in history was postponed without explanation, causing an online outcry.—
Anthony Kuhn,
NPR,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
In doing so, the currents drag swimmers out into open waters.—
Jeanine Santucci,
USA Today,
16 Aug. 2025
-
One person would hold the rod and drag ashore a thrashing, 200-pound sawfish.—
Jack Prator,
The Orlando Sentinel,
16 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Student loans can be deferred while enrolled at least half-time.—
Adam Palasciano,
CNBC,
4 Aug. 2025
-
Owners had a little over two and a half years to prepare to make up for years or decades of reserve savings and critical structural repairs that many associations had deferred.—
Max Klaver,
Miami Herald,
30 July 2025
Verb
-
Adam crawls along the floor, left, about to put his finger in an electrical outlet, right, while his baby watches from afar.—
Daniella Gray,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Aug. 2025
-
The company argued that its AI assistants operate on behalf of a user's request and are not systematically crawling the web for training data.—
Paulo Carvão,
Forbes.com,
12 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Gavin Newsom continues to mock Trump on 'Bela' The California governor's office has taken to mimicking Trump's social media style in posts trolling the president and generally poking fun at Republicans online.—
Kinsey Crowley,
USA Today,
18 Aug. 2025
-
Apart from at the very top of the tree, which presumably pokes through Florentino Perez’s office window at Real Madrid, there are no solutions, only trade-offs.—
Mark Critchley,
New York Times,
18 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
While centralized systems can clear trades in milliseconds, blockchains have historically lagged due to consensus overhead, latency, and scalability trade-offs.—
Sean Lee,
Forbes.com,
20 Aug. 2025
-
Nigeria for many years lagged behind other African countries in the uptake of digital financial services, largely because the central bank did not allow the largest telecoms companies, MTN and Airtel, to have mobile money licenses until 2022.—
Alexis Akwagyiram,
semafor.com,
18 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Delay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/delay. Accessed 23 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share