procrastinate

/proʊˈkræstɪneɪt/

/prəʊˈkræstɪneɪt/

Other forms: procrastinating; procrastinated; procrastinates

Procrastinate means to put off doing something until a future time. When people sit down to write term papers, they can find all kinds of clever ways to procrastinate: reorganizing the paperclips, calling everyone they know, typing "I am bored" fifty times in a row.

The verb procrastinate is from Latin prōcrāstināre, from prō- "forward" plus crāstinus "of tomorrow," from crās "tomorrow." Some synonyms are defer, postpone, and delay, though these words often apply to more positive reasons for inaction. The reason for procrastination is often assumed to be laziness, or just that the task or action is unpleasant and difficult to begin.

Definitions of procrastinate

1. verb

   postpone doing what one should be doing
   “He did not want to write the letter and procrastinated for days”

   synonyms: dilly-dally, dillydally, drag one's feet, drag one's heels, shilly-shally, shillyshally, stall

   type of:

   delay

   act later than planned, scheduled, or required
2. verb

   postpone or delay needlessly
   “He procrastinated the matter until it was almost too late”

   type of:

   delay

   act later than planned, scheduled, or required

   dilly-dally, dillydally, drag one's feet, drag one's heels, shilly-shally, shillyshally, stall

   postpone doing what one should be doing