What does "late" mean?

1. (after the expected time) happening or arriving after the time that was planned or expected. 2. (near the end of a period) happening near the end of a day, a year, or a person's life. 3. (deceased) a polite way to talk about someone who has died recently. 4. (past the scheduled time) doing something after the time it should have been done. 5. (a work shift) a period of work that happens in the evening or at night.

late — meaning, definition & examples

Q: Is it correct to say "I am lately for the meeting."?

No — say "I am late for the meeting.". 'Lately' means 'recently'. Use 'late' as the adjective to describe being behind schedule.

Word

01after the expected time

A1 · Beginner

adj. happening or arriving after the time that was planned or expected.

adj. occurring, arriving, or happening after the scheduled, expected, or usual time.

“I am sorry I am late for the lesson; the bus was delayed by traffic.”

“The project manager expressed frustration when the lead architect arrived late to the final briefing, citing a minor scheduling conflict.”

Pitfall

I am lately for the meeting.

I am late for the meeting.

'Lately' means 'recently'. Use 'late' as the adjective to describe being behind schedule.

Synonyms

tardy delayed overdue

Antonyms

early punctual

02near the end of a period

A2 · Elementary

adj. happening near the end of a day, a year, or a person's life.

adj. occurring or situated near the end of a particular interval of time or a historical period.

“We went for a walk in the late afternoon when the sun was lower.”

“The late nineteenth century saw a rapid expansion of railway networks across the continent, fundamentally altering trade routes.”

Synonyms

final closing

Antonyms

early

03deceased

B2 · Upper Intermediate Formal

adj. a polite way to talk about someone who has died recently.

adj. used euphemistically to refer to a person who is deceased, typically preceded by 'the' or a possessive pronoun.

“The late king was well-loved by all the people in his country.”

“In her moving tribute, the professor spoke warmly of her late colleague's contributions to the field of linguistics.”

Usage

This sense is attributive only; it must appear before the noun (e.g., 'the late Mr. Smith') and cannot follow a verb.

Synonyms

deceased departed

Antonyms

living

04past the scheduled time

A1 · Beginner

adv. doing something after the time it should have been done.

adv. at a point in time after the expected or usual hour; behind schedule.

“He stayed up late to finish his homework before the deadline.”

“The flight arrived so late that the passengers missed their connecting flight to Singapore.”

Synonyms

tardilybehindhand

Antonyms

early

05a work shift

B1 · Intermediate Countable noun Informal

n. a period of work that happens in the evening or at night.

n. a scheduled period of work occurring late in the day or during the night.

“I can't come to the party because I'm working the late tonight.”

“Hospital staff often prefer the late because it allows them to handle personal errands during daylight hours.”

Synonyms

night shiftevening shift

Antonyms

early

late vs lately

Late describes something happening after the expected time, while lately describes something that has happened recently.

RememberLate is about the clock; lately is about the calendar.

From Middle English late, lat, from Old English læt (“slow; slack, lax, negligent; late”), from Proto-West Germanic lat, from Proto-Germanic lataz (“slow, lazy”). By surface analysis, deverbal from let. Cognates Cognate with Yola laate (“late”), North Frisian leed, leet, lääs (“late”), Saterland Frisian leet (“late”), Dutch, German Low German laat (“late, tardy”), Danish lad (“languid, lazy, indolent”), Faroese, Icelandic latur (“lazy”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish lat (“lazy”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐍄𐍃 (lats, “lazy, slothful”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.