Dilatory

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Dilatory \Dil"a*to*ry\, a. [L. dilatorius, fr. dilator a
     delayer, fr. dilatus, used as p. p. of differe to defer,
     delay: cf. F. dilatoire. See {Dilate}, {Differ}, {Defer}.]
     1. Inclined to defer or put off what ought to be done at
        once; given the procrastination; delaying;
        procrastinating; loitering; as, a dilatory servant.


        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Marked by procrastination or delay; tardy; slow; sluggish;
        -- said of actions or measures.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Alva, as usual, brought his dilatory policy to bear
              upon his adversary.                   --Motley.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {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.
  
     Syn: Slow; delaying; sluggish; inactive; loitering;
          behindhand; backward; procrastinating. See {Slow}.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  dilatory
       adj 1: inclined to waste time and lag behind [syn: {laggard}]
       2: wasting time [syn: {laggard}, {poky}, {pokey}]
       3: using cautious slow strategy to wear down opposition;
          avoiding direct confrontation; "a fabian policy" [syn: {fabian}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  65 Moby Thesaurus words for "dilatory":
     Micawberish, apathetic, backward, balking, balky, bone-lazy,
     cadging, dallying, dawdling, delaying, deliberate, dillydallying,
     do-nothing, doless, dragging, dronish, drony, easy, easygoing,
     ergophobic, faineant, foot-dragging, good-for-nothing, grudging,
     indifferent, indolent, lackadaisical, laggard, lagging, lax, lazy,
     leisurely, lingering, loath, loitering, lollygagging, neglectful,
     negligent, nonaggressive, parasitic, perfunctory, procrastinating,
     procrastinative, procrastinatory, reluctant, remiss, renitent,
     restive, scrounging, shiftless, shilly-shallying, shuffling, slack,
     slothful, slow, slow to, sluggish, sponging, tarrying,
     unenterprising, unenthusiastic, unhasty, unhurried, unzealous,
     work-shy
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  DILATORY. That which is intended for delay. It is a maxim, that delays in  
  law are odious, dilationes in lege sunt odiosae. Plowd. 75.