noun ·2 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The state of being late. uncountable, usually

   "His chronic lateness will cost him a promotion if not his job."

2. 2
   quality of coming late or later in time wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

afterlifeanachronismantedatinganticipationbehindhandnessbelatedness

Antonyms

All antonyms

earlinesspunctuality

Example

More examples

"The company has hard and fast rules against lateness."

Etymology

From late + -ness.

Related phrases

fashionable lateness

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.