procrastinate
verb /prəˈkræstɪneɪt/
/prəˈkræstɪneɪt/
[intransitive] (formal, disapproving)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they procrastinate | /prəˈkræstɪneɪt/ /prəˈkræstɪneɪt/ |
| he / she / it procrastinates | /prəˈkræstɪneɪts/ /prəˈkræstɪneɪts/ |
| past simple procrastinated | /prəˈkræstɪneɪtɪd/ /prəˈkræstɪneɪtɪd/ |
| past participle procrastinated | /prəˈkræstɪneɪtɪd/ /prəˈkræstɪneɪtɪd/ |
| -ing form procrastinating | /prəˈkræstɪneɪtɪŋ/ /prəˈkræstɪneɪtɪŋ/ |
- to delay doing something that you should do, usually because you do not want to do it
- People were dying of starvation while governments procrastinated.
Word Originlate 16th cent.: from Latin procrastinat- ‘deferred till the morning’, from the verb procrastinare, from pro- ‘forward’ + crastinus ‘belonging to tomorrow’ (from cras ‘tomorrow’).