DILATORY • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Dilatory

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/dˈɪlətˌɔri/ Listen

adjective

Dilatory adj.

Inclined to defer or put off what ought to be done at once; given the procrastination; delaying; procrastinating; loitering; as, a dilatory servant.

Marked by procrastination or delay; tardy; slow; sluggish; said of actions or measures. "Alva, as usual, brought his dilatory policy to bear upon his adversary."

Dilatory plea (Law), a plea designed to create delay in the trial of a cause, generally founded upon some matter not connected with the merits of the case.

Synonyms: Slow; delaying; sluggish; inactive; loitering; behindhand; backward; procrastinating. See Slow.

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Etymology of 'Dilatory'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Dilatory" Quotes from Famous Books

... difficulty, struggling as he was with an anti-pope, and the great Frederic Barbarossa, Emperor of Germany. Moreover he was a personal friend of Henry, to whom he had been indebted for his elevation to the papal throne. His course, therefore, was non-committal and dilatory and vacillating, although he doubtless was on the side of the prelate who exalted ecclesiastical authority. But he was obliged from policy to be prudent and conciliatory. He patiently heard both sides, but decided nothing. ...

— Beacon Lights of History, Volume V • John Lord

... proportion to the renown of their chiefs. An energetic man, who, at the head of a handful, had performed some daring feats, would find himself a week afterwards the leader of many hundreds, while a chief who was slow and dilatory would find his band melt away like ...

— The Young Buglers • G.A. Henty

... company dilatory in returning her notice, since from the time of her entrance into the room, she had been the object ...

— Cecilia Volume 1 • Frances Burney

... to the award of juries, not of judges. Pitt warmly approved the measure, maintaining that, far from protecting libellers, it would have the contrary effect. The Bill passed the Commons on 31st May; but owing to dilatory and factious procedure in the Lords, it was held over until the year 1792. Thanks to the noble plea for liberty urged by the venerable Earl Camden, it passed on 21st May.[45] It is matter of congratulation that Great Britain gained this new safeguard for freedom of speech before she encountered ...

— William Pitt and the Great War • John Holland Rose

... is here obviously the admission and not the scandal that should have weight. When Mr. Giles Holloway was leaving Tappanuli and settling his accounts with the natives he expostulated with a Batta man who had been dilatory in his payment. "I would," says the man, "have been here sooner, but my pangulu (superior officer) was detected in familiarity with my wife. He was condemned, and I stayed to eat share of him; the ceremony took us up three days, ...

— The History of Sumatra - Containing An Account Of The Government, Laws, Customs And - Manners Of The Native Inhabitants • William Marsden

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