tardy
/ˈtɑɹdi/adjective, noun, verb
tardy is spelled T-A-R-D-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 42,145th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, tardy means “Late; overdue or delayed” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in tardy?
| Letters | 5: T-A-R-D-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 42,145th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is tardy?
Tardy appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 42,145th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tardy?
- UK /ˈtɑːdi/
- US /ˈtɑɹdi/
Tardy has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-tardy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with tardy?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tardy from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹdi/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: darty.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of tardy
- tardier comparative
- tardiest superlative
- tardies plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- tardying participle, present
- tardied participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tardy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Late; overdue or delayed.
He yawned, then raised a tardy hand over his mouth.
- 2
Moving with a slow pace or motion; not swift.
- 3
Ineffectual; slow-witted, slow to act, or dull.
His tardy performance bordered on incompetence.
- 4
obsoleteUnwary; unready (especially in the phrase take (someone) tardy).
- 5
obsoleteCriminal; guilty.
noun
- 1
USA piece of paper given to students who are late to class.
The teacher gave her a tardy because she did not come into the classroom until after the bell.
- 2
USAn instance of a student's being marked as tardy by a teacher on the teacher's attendance sheet.
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo make tardy.
- 2
rareTo dawdle.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tardy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tardif, en retard , lent, long à la détente |
| German | verspätet , langsam, säumig |
| Portuguese | tardio |
| Spanish | tardo, tardío, moroso, tardón, pigre |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tardy come from?
From an earlier tardive, from French tardif, from Late Latin tardīvus, from Latin tardus (“slow”, “sluggish”), of obscure origin.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).