What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Tardiness vs Late - What's the difference?

tardiness | late |

As nouns the difference between tardiness and late

is that tardiness is (uncountable) the state or quality of being tardy while late is (kind of) hatchet, axe, chopper.

tardiness

English

Noun

  • (uncountable) The state or quality of being tardy.
  • (countable) The result or product of being tardy.

    • Synonyms

    * lateness

    Antonyms

    * punctuality

    late

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Near the end of a period of time.
  • Specifically, near the end of the day.
  • (usually, not used comparatively) Associated with the end of a period.
  • Not arriving until after an expected time.
  • Not having had an expected menstrual period.
  • (deceased)(not comparable, euphemistic) Deceased, dead:
  • * , chapter=12
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.}}
  • Existing or holding some position not long ago, but not now; departed, or gone out of office.
  • Recent — relative to the noun it modifies.
  • * 1914 , (Robert Frost), (North of Boston) , "A Hundred Collars":
    • Lancaster bore him — such a little town, / Such a great man. It doesn't see him often / Of late years, though he keeps the old homestead / And sends the children down there with their mother

    Usage notes

    * (deceased) (term) in this sense is unusual among English adjectives in that it qualifies named individuals (in phrases like (term)) without creating a contrast with another Mary who is not late. Contrast (hungry): a phrase like (term) is usually only used if another Mary is under discussion who is not hungry.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (informal) A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place late in the day or at night.
  • * 2007 , Paul W Browning, The Good Guys Wear Blue
    • At about 11 pm one night in Corporation Street my watch were on van patrol and Yellow Watch were on lates as usual.

    Adverb

    (er)
  • After a deadline has passed, past a designated time.
    • We drove as fast as we could, but we still arrived late .
  • formerly, especially in the context of service in a military unit.
  • :Colonel Easterwood, late of the 34th Carbines, was a guest at the dinner party.

    • Derived terms

    * a day late and a dollar short * as of late * better late than never * * late bloomer * latecomer * late in the day * late in the game * lately * late night * later * sooner or later

    References

    * 2009 April 3, , "Re: Has 'late' split up into a pair of homonyms?", message-ID <bdb13686-a6e4-43cd-8445-efe353365394@l13g2000vba.googlegroups.com>, alt.usage.english'' and ''sci.lang , Usenet.

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * * * * * * * 1000 English basic words ----