From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtardytar‧dy /ˈtɑːdi $ ˈtɑːrdi/ adjective formal 1 LATEarriving or done late Do please forgive this tardy reply. He’s been tardy three times this semester.► see thesaurus at late2 SLOWdoing something too slowly or latetardy in people who are tardy in paying their bills —tardily adverb —tardiness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
tardy• It's an excrescence, a monstrosity, some tardy addition to the agenda.• The tardy appearance of the tapes provided the opportunity for Sen.• Yorkshire may have been slightly tardy in not monitoring his schoolboy progress.• This makes the car feel tardy in quick manoeuvres and exacerbates the variable-ratio's less-than-linear response through fast sweepers.• He was never tardy or absent the whole semester.• Talking out, skipping class, being tardy or disrespectful are no more acceptable for work-inhibited students than for any others.• The Jesuits soon boasted a chapel and a lot, while the tardy Protestants waited eight years to build their own church.• Do please forgive this very tardy reply.• We apologize for our tardy response to your letter.Origin tardy (1500-1600) tardif “tardy” ((15-16 centuries)), from Old French, from Vulgar Latin tardivus, from Latin tardus “late” 