Late definition

Late as an adjective

1. being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time

   "late evening"

2. after the expected or usual time; delayed

   "I'm late for the plane"

   Same sense: belated, tardy

3. of the immediate past or just previous to the present time

   "a late development"

   Same sense: recent

4. having died recently

   "her late husband"

5. of a later stage in the development of a language or literature; used especially of dead languages

   "Late Greek"

6. at or toward an end or late period or stage of development

   "the late phase of feudalism"

   Same sense: later

7. (used especially of persons) of the immediate past

   "our late President is still very active"

   Same sense: former, previous

Late as an adverb

8. later than usual or than expected

   "the train arrived late"

   Same sense: belatedly, tardily

9. to an advanced time

   "talked late into the evening"

   Same sense: deep

10. at an advanced age or stage

    "she married late"

11. in the recent past

    "lately the rules have been enforced"

    Same sense: of late, recently, lately, latterly

Synonyms and antonyms

• belated
• tardy
• recent
• later definition
• former definition
• previous
• belatedly
• tardily
• deep
• of late
• recently
• lately
• latterly

Opposites: early, middle.

All synonyms of late, sense by sense

How to say late

Late has 1 syllable and rhymes with great. Syllable counts and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary.

Words that rhyme with late

• great
• state
• wait
• date
• rate
• hate
• straight
• create
• eight
• weight
• separate
• estate

LATE in word games

Scrabble

4

Words With Friends

5

Anagrams

4

Is LATE a valid Scrabble word? Yes, it is in the ENABLE list most word games use. Check LATE in the word checker, or unscramble LATE to see its 4 anagrams and the shorter words in its letters.