# deferred

/dɪˈfɝd/ (US) · /dɪfˈɜːd/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/deferred
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. delayed or postponed

adjective · CEFR B2

delayed or put off until a later time.

For teachers: postponed or delayed until a future time; often used in professional contexts regarding projects or decisions.

- The committee reached a deferred decision after they realised they needed more information.
- The board issued a deferred response to the merger proposal, citing the need for a more comprehensive audit of the competitor's assets.

### 2. finance and accounting

adjective · CEFR C1 · Technical

describes money, taxes, or payments that are recorded now but handled at a future date.

For teachers: pertaining to an asset or liability whose value or payment is not realised until a future period.

- The company has a deferred tax liability that they must pay next year.
- By opting for a deferred annuity, the investor ensured a steady stream of income that would only commence upon their retirement.

Usage: Commonly used in the phrases 'deferred tax' or 'deferred payment'.

### 3. past action of delaying

verb · CEFR B2

the past tense of 'defer', meaning you moved something to a later date.

For teachers: the past tense and past participle of the transitive verb 'defer', indicating the act of postponement.

- They deferred the start of the project until the new manager arrived.
- The department deferred the implementation of the new software until all staff members had completed the mandatory training modules.

### 4. yielded to another

verb · CEFR C1 · Formal

the past tense of 'defer', meaning you let someone else decide because you respect them.

For teachers: the past tense of the intransitive verb 'defer', meaning to submit to another's wishes or authority out of respect.

- He deferred to his older sister when it came to choosing a gift for their parents.
- The junior researchers deferred to the lead scientist's expertise when interpreting the unexpected results of the clinical trial.

Usage: Usually followed by the preposition 'to'.

### 5. programming object

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

a tool in computer programming that represents a result that is not ready yet.

For teachers: an object used in asynchronous programming to manage a result that will be available in the future.

- The function returns a deferred so the program can keep running while the data loads.
- The developer utilised a deferred object to handle the multiple asynchronous requests, ensuring the interface remained responsive during the data fetch.

## Examples

- We deferred the meeting until next week.
- The company deferred the product launch to allow more time for quality testing.
- The government deferred the tax increase, hoping that economic conditions would improve before the new fiscal year began.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.