Synonyms of delaying

delaying

verb

present participle of delay

1

as in lingering

to move or act slowly

she ordered the kids to stop delaying and to get to bed

Synonyms & Similar Words

• lingering
• dragging
• poking
• crawling
• stalling
• creeping
• lagging
• strolling
• playing
• dawdling
• loitering
• shuffling
• tarrying
• falling behind
• diddling
• dropping behind
• hanging fire
• marking time
• lollygagging
• moping
• dillydallying
• dallying
• idling
• lounging
• staggering
• shilly-shallying
• taking one's time
• dragging one's feet
• trifling
• fiddling (around)
• loafing
• hanging (around or out)
• inching
• fooling around
• puttering (around)
• decelerating
• sauntering
• pottering (around)
• easing
• messing around
• ambling
• procrastinating
• monkeying (around)
• temporizing
• slowing (down or up)
• lolling
• filibustering
• plodding
• lumbering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• hastening
• hurrying
• rushing
• tearing
• speeding
• running
• flying
• ripping
• racing
• scurrying
• bolting
• dashing
• whirling
• barreling
• zipping
• whizzing
• coursing
• whisking
• scrambling
• scooting
• rocketing
• careering
• scudding
• darting
• hustling
• hurtling
• running
• accelerating
• stampeding
• humping
• breezing
• bowling
• galloping
• sprinting
• trotting
• jogging
• quickening
• hotfooting (it)
• speeding (up)
• overtaking
• outstripping
• outrunning
• outpacing
• catching up
• fast-forwarding

2

as in postponing

to assign to a later time

our guests delayed their departure until after dinner

Synonyms & Similar Words

• postponing
• deferring
• waiting
• shelving
• holding over
• remitting
• suspending
• putting off
• hesitating
• slowing
• holding off (on)
• putting over
• pausing
• prolonging
• laying over
• retarding
• lengthening
• holding up
• staying
• detaining
• stretching (out)
• extending
• protracting

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• doing
• working (on)
• acting
• dealing (with)
• deciding (upon)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of delaying

Kim Anding, the Lighthouse’s former controller, told the Star-Telegram that delaying roof repairs amounted to negligence. — Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Sep. 2026

Thirty percent also reported delaying or forgoing medical care. — Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 17 Sep. 2026

Speaker Mike Johnson announced that House Republicans are ending their session a day early, delaying a vote on a resolution by Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican, to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth until after the November elections. — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2026

If the Oilers fall well short of a championship, McDavid delaying extension talks is within the realm of possibility. — Janson Duench, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026

Following the unveiling of the already impressive prototype in 2017, the storied CEO is said to have given Tesla engineers a directive that the car had to be able to fly, delaying its production by years. — Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 14 Sep. 2026

In addition to suspending operations on the four existing cameras, the village is delaying installation of the other eight until concerns are addressed. — Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 10 Sep. 2026

Tulloch, who came over from Thinking Machine Labs, has been delaying his departure until the company successfully launched its new family of open source AI models and AI assistant, Muse, which was announced Tuesday. — Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 9 Sep. 2026

In practice, this could mean shorter irrigation cycles during extreme heat, delaying fertigation when uptake is low or adjusting nutrition by crop stage instead of applying one program across the season. — Gaby Miodownik, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2026