cunc·ta·tion

(kŭngk-tā′shən)

Procrastination; delay.

[Latin cūnctātiō, cūnctātiōn-, from cūnctātus, past participle of cūnctārī, to delay; see konk- in Indo-European roots.]

cunc′ta′tive (kŭngk′tā′tĭv, -tə-tĭv) adj.

cunc′ta′tor n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

cunctation

(kʌŋkˈteɪʃən)

rare delay

[C16: from Latin cunctātiō a hesitation, from cunctārī to delay]

cunctative adj

cuncˈtator n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cunc•ta•tion

(kʌŋkˈteɪ ʃən)

n.

delay; tardiness.

[1575–85; < Latin cunctātiō=cunctā(rī) to delay + -tiō -tion]

cunc•ta′tious, cunc′ta•to`ry (-təˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i) cunc′ta•tive (-tɪv) adj.

cunc•ta′tor, n.

cunctation

the practice or habit of delay or tardiness; procrastination. — cunctator, n. — cunctatious, cunctatory, adj.

See also: Time

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

cunctation - the act of procrastinating; putting off or delaying or defering an action to a later time

procrastination, shillyshally

delay, holdup - the act of delaying; inactivity resulting in something being put off until a later time

Translations

kunktatorstwozwłoka

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

The current time is in the hands of people, and the future is built on the basis of the present, so it should not be cunctation. It should be noted that this syndrome is contagious and permeate from one state to another and from human to another human and from one person to organization and from organization to another organization and society.

Disenar y explicar los factores de preprocesamiento y procesamiento posterior de la pereza del personal en las organizaciones gubernamentales

Furthermore, Lyons's increasing involvement in Australian foreign policy saw the his government move from a policy of "cunctation", that is, delaying while waiting for the other power to move first, to one of appeasement, that is, taking active steps to try to avert a deterioration in foreign relations, particularly with Japan, Italy and Germany.

J.A. Lyons--the 'Tame Tasmanian'

Several hours were to elapse, in the keeping of his lackeys, before the Envoy of My Lord the Count of Tyrol might see or even be seen to by His Grace the Duke of Ferrara, though from such neglect no deliberate slight need be inferred: now that I have had an opportunity - have had, indeed, the obligation - to fix on His Grace that perlustration or power of scrutiny for which (I believe) My Lord holds his Envoy's service in some favor still, I see that the Duke, by his own lights or, perhaps, more properly said, by his own tenebrosity, could offer some excuse for such cunctation .

Nikolaus Mardruz to his Master Ferdinand, Count of Tyrol, 1565