procrastinate
pruh-KRAS-tuh-nayt
/prəʊˈkræstɪneɪt/
To intentionally delay or postpone doing something that must be done.
Implies conscious postponement of tasks, often despite knowing there will be negative consequences.
The story behind the word. The ancient Romans combined 'pro-' (forward) with 'crastinus' (pertaining to tomorrow) to describe the habit of pushing duties into the next day. The word entered English in the late 16th century, perfectly capturing the human tendency to trade present effort for future regret.
Word relationships
- delay: Delay is neutral and can refer to external hold-ups, whereas procrastinate is self-inflicted.
- postpone: Postpone often implies a structured reschedule, while procrastinate implies avoidance.
- expedite: Expedite means to speed up a process deliberately.
- prioritize: Prioritize means organizing tasks to complete urgent items first.
Commonly confused with
- dally: Procrastinate focuses on postponing a task; dally focuses on wasting time aimlessly.
Word family
- procrastination (noun): The action of delaying or postponing something.
- procrastinator (noun): A person who habitually delays tasks.
Collocations
- tend to procrastinate
- procrastinate on tasks
- procrastinate until deadline
Idioms & expressions
- kick the can down the road
- put off until tomorrow
Example sentences
- "Most college students tend to procrastinate when faced with long research papers." Academic habbits
- "Never procrastinate, for time lost is never found again." Literary usage
Memory hook
Pro-CRASTIN-ate: You act like a pro at pushing things to tomorrow ('cras' in Latin). Pro at doing it tomorrow.
When not to use
Do not use for unavoidable delays caused by external circumstances beyond your control.
Fun facts
- In ancient Greece, Hesiod wrote warnings against putting work off until tomorrow as early as 700 BCE.
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