as in delays
to be slow or late about doing something that should be done; to delay doing something until a later time because you do not want to do it, because you are lazy, etc.
He procrastinated and missed the submission deadline. He told her to stop procrastinating and get to work.
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for procrastinates
Verb
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Department officials later told her in texts and emails that delays completing the more detailed review of Rochelle’s home were her fault.—
Jayme Fraser,
USA Today,
30 Oct. 2025 -
But that was before the arrival of teplizumab, a monoclonal antibody approved in late 2022 that delays the advance of the illness and may even halt it at stage 2 in some people.—
Tara Haelle,
Scientific American,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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There is often community resistance that stalls the building of homes.—
Samantha Delouya,
CNN Money,
21 Oct. 2025
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But, then again, the market is a forward-looking machine with a motor that never stalls out.—
Kevin Stankiewicz,
CNBC,
21 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Since the holidays, many of us have spent winter days cooped up inside, shuttling between work, school and home while the calendar crawls toward spring.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Jan. 2026
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In Elf, while Santa (the late Ed Asner) is setting out toys at an orphanage on Christmas Eve, Buddy (Will Ferrell) crawls into his sack.—
Victoria Edel,
PEOPLE,
23 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Iwobi’s movement drags Ladislav Krejci wider, increasing the space between the lines and creating a clear passing angle for Calvin Bassey.—
Ahmed Walid,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
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This not-quite-title song, which is nearly eight minutes long, is a sort of mini-suite, opening with a dog barking, giving way to an acoustic-guitar melody accompanying polyphonic vocals, then becoming electric and crashingly alive, until the relentless screech of a guitar drags you to the end.—
Hanif Abdurraqib,
New Yorker,
18 Dec. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Procrastinates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/procrastinates. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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