late

1 not arriving, occurring, or settled at the due, usual, or proper time I ran as fast as I could, but was still late for class Synonyms behind, behindhand, belated, delinquent, latish, overdue, tardy Related Words delayed, detained, postponed; dallying, dawdling, dilatory, dillydallying, dragging, laggard, lagging, poky (or pokey), slow, sluggish, unhurried Near Antonyms opportune, seasonable, timely; prompt, punctual Antonyms early, inopportune, precocious, premature, unseasonable, untimely

2 having been such at some previous time the late musical director said he would never have allowed such behavior while he was in charge Synonyms erstwhile, former, old, once, onetime, other, past, quondam, sometime, whilomRelated Words bygone, dead, defunct, departed, expired, extinct, gone, long-ago, vanishedNear Antonyms contemporary, current, extant, ongoing, present, present-day; coming, future, prospective, unborn

3 no longer living our late granduncle remembered us in his will Synonyms asleep, breathless, cold, deceased, defunct, demised, departed, fallen, gone, dead, lifeless, lowRelated Words extinct; dying, fading, moribund; stillborn; finished, lapsed, terminated; inanimate, insensate, nonlivingNear Antonyms animated; dynamic, lively, thriving, vibrant, vital, vivacious; active, functioning, operative, runningAntonyms alive, animate, breathing, going, live, living, quick

4 being far along in development late impressionism gave rise to pointillism Synonyms developed, evolved, forward, high, higher, improved, advanced, progressive, refinedRelated Words precocious; full-blown, full-fledged, full-scale; aged, grown, mature, matured, perfected, ripe, ripened; civilized, educated, enhanced, enlightened; contemporary, current, cutting-edge, latest, leading-edge, mod, modern, new, newest, newfangled, new-fashioned, novel, now, present-day, recent, space-age, supermodern, ultramodern, up-to-dateNear Antonyms green, immature, underdeveloped, undersized (also undersize), underweight, unripe, unripened; savage, uncivilized, uneducated; early, embryonic, germinal, primeval, primordial; antediluvian, antiquated, antique, dated, fusty, hoary, musty, Neanderthal (or Neandertal), obsolete, old, oldfangled, old-fashioned, old-time, out-of-date, outworn, passé, pastAntonyms backward, low, lower, nonprogressive, primitive, retarded, rude, rudimentary, undeveloped