procrastinate
[verb]
Synonyms: delay, dally, drag one's feet (informal), gain time, play for time, postpone, put off, stall, temporize

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Related Words: defer, postpone, stay, suspend, prolong, protract

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English Thesaurus: delay, postpone, put off, hold off, defer, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

pro‧cras‧ti‧nate /prəˈkræstəneɪt, prəˈkræstɪneɪt/ verb [intransitive]
[Date: 1500-1600; Language: Latin; Origin: past participle of procrastinare, from cras 'tomorrow']
formal to delay doing something that you ought to do, usually because you do not want to do it Synonym : put off:
People often procrastinate when it comes to paperwork.
—procrastination /prəˌkræstəˈneɪʃən, prəˌkræstɪˈneɪʃən/ noun [uncountable]

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

delay to wait until a later time to do something:
He decided to delay his decision until he had seen the full report.
postpone to change an event to a later time or date:
The meeting was postponed.
put off to delay doing something. Put off is less formal than delay or postpone, and is the usual phrase to use in everyday English:
I used to put off making difficult decisions.
The game has been put off till next week.
hold off to delay doing something, especially while you are waiting for more information or for something else to happen:
House buyers seem to be holding off until interest rates drop.
defer formal to delay doing something until a later date, usually because something else needs to happen first:
The decision had been deferred until after a meeting of the directors.
She decided to defer her university application for a year so that she could go travelling.
procrastinate /prəˈkræstəneɪt, prəˈkræstɪneɪt/ formal to delay doing something that you ought to do:
Don’t procrastinate – make a start on your assignments as soon as you get them.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

postpone verb [transitive] to change the date or time of a planned event or action to a later one:
The game was postponed because of heavy snow.
We had to postpone the trip because of my father’s illness.
The trial has been postponed until November.
put something off phrasal verb [transitive] to decide to do something later than you planned to do it or later than you should do it, especially because there is a problem or because you do not want to do it now:
I really should go to the dentist, but I keep putting it off.
The concert’s been put off till next week.
The committee decided to put off making any decision until the new year.
delay verb [transitive] to not do something until something else has happened or until a more suitable time:
He decided to delay his departure until after he’d seen the Director.
Police delayed making any announcement until the girl’s relatives had been contacted.
procrastinate verb [intransitive] formal to delay doing something that you ought to do, usually because you do not want to do it – used especially to show disapproval:
Kerry procrastinated for as long as possible before firing anyone.
He had been procrastinating over starting the work.
be pushed/moved/put back if an event is pushed back, someone arranges for it to be held at a later time or date than originally planned:
Their meeting has been put back to next Thursday.
The museum’s opening date was pushed back so that safety checks could be carried out.
The game on April 1 has been moved back to April 5.
shelve verb [transitive] to decide not to continue with a plan, project etc now although it may be considered again at some time in the future:
Plans for a new stadium have been shelved for now.
The city shelved the project due to lack of funding.
put something on ice/put something on the back burner to decide not to continue with a plan, project etc until a later time. These expressions are rather informal and are often used in business English:
The project has had to be put on ice due to lack of funding.
Blears called for the discussions to be put on ice until after the elections.
The plan seems to have been put on the back burner.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲