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late

adjective · noun · adverb

Simple meaning

After the expected or usual time.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

layt
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈleɪt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Near the end of a period of time.

  2. usually not comparable

    Associated with the end of a period.

  3. Being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time

  4. Not arriving or occurring until after an expected time.

  5. Specifically, near the end of the day.

  6. Levied as a surcharge on a payment which has not arrived by a specified deadline.

noun

  1. informal

    A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place late in the day or at night.

adverb

  1. In the recent past

  2. After a deadline has passed, past a designated time.

  3. Not long ago; just now, recently.

  4. To an advanced time

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Near the end of a period of time.

Used this way, late is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use late

  • “I was late for work because of unexpected traffic this morning.”adjective

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Existing

late nineteenthlate eighteenth

Other combinations

late afternoonlate yearslate summerlate spring

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • latestnounInflected form

    The most recent news or development.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • latelyadverbDerived adverb

    In the recent past.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • lates calcarifernounCompound term

    A species of large perch noted for its sporting and eating qualities.

  • late blightnounCompound term

    Blight in which symptoms appear late in the growing season especially a disease of solanaceous plants caused by the fungus Phytophthora infestans.

  • late greeknounCompound term

    The Greek language in the 3rd to 8th centuries.

  • late latinnounCompound term

    The form of Latin written between the 3rd and 8th centuries.

  • late-night hournounCompound term

    The latter part of night.

  • late purple asternounCompound term

    A variety of aster.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

adjective

Sense: near the end of a period of time

advancedtardy

noun

Sense: shift (scheduled work period) that takes place late in the day

tardy

Antonyms

Sense: shift (scheduled work period) that takes place late in the day

earlyInformal

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.