procrastinate

/pɹəʊˈkɹæs.tɪ.neɪt/

procrastinate · verb — to delay taking action; to wait until later. It carries an Arena rating of 1725, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.

Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, procrastinate ranks #800 of 17,188 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,233 of 17,197 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #2,888 of 17,145 for Most Storied Words, #3,446 of 17,180 for Most Ingenious Words.

procrastinate is pronounced /pɹəʊˈkɹæs.tɪ.neɪt/.

Why “procrastinate” is a great word

To delay or postpone action, especially habitually or without good reason. From Latin prōcrastinātus, past participle of prōcrastinō ("to defer, put off till tomorrow"), from prō- ("forward") + crāstinus ("of tomorrow"), from crās ("tomorrow"). First attested in English in 1548. Unlike "postpone," which suggests a deliberate rescheduling, or "expedite," its direct antonym, to procrastinate is to be mired in the culpable gap between intention and execution. It is the heavy-lidded stare at a blank page as dawn bleeds at the window, the meticulous reorganization of a bookshelf while a deadline circles, the silent negotiation with a tomorrow that is always one day further on—the slow, private art of sabotaging one's own life with the blunt instrument of time, where each 'later' arrives as empty as the last.

❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources

Etymology

First attested in 1548; from Latin prōcrastinātus, perfect passive participle of prōcrastinō (“defer, put off till tomorrow”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from prō- (“in favor of”) + crāstinus (“of or belonging to tomorrow”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix), from crās (“tomorrow”).

verb

To delay taking action; to wait until later.e.g.“He procrastinated until the last minute and had to stay up all night to finish.”
To put off; to delay (something).

Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Words closest in meaning

By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.

procrastine 80% match — To procrastinate. vs procrastinate →
crastination 79% match — procrastination; delaying things until later vs procrastinate →
posticipate 75% match — To do something later, when the time has come. vs procrastinate →
procrastinator 73% match — One who procrastinates; one who delays working on things. vs procrastinate →
delay 69% match — A period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity. vs procrastinate →
procrastination 68% match — The act of postponing, delaying or putting off, especially habitually or intentionally. vs procrastinate →
defer 67% match — To delay or postpone. vs procrastinate →
procrastinatorily 66% match — in a procrastinatory manner vs procrastinate →