lateness

/ˈleɪtnəs/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈleɪtnəs/ (ame, ipa)

lateness — noun

1. the condition of not arriving, starting, or finishing at the time that was plann

1.名詞A2
釋義

the condition of not arriving, starting, or finishing at the time that was planned or expected

例句

Emeka apologized for his lateness to the morning meeting.

apologize for + lateness to [event]

The train company blamed the bad weather for the lateness of the service.

同義詞
  • tardiness

    more formal; common in workplace or school policy contexts

  • delay

    focuses on the event that is postponed rather than a person's quality of being late

  • belatedness

    rare and formal; used for delayed events or gestures, not people

反義詞

用法筆記

Used as an uncountable noun. Frequently follows a possessive ('his lateness', 'the train's lateness') or appears with a prepositional phrase introduced by 'of', 'to', or 'for'.

常見錯誤

❌His late made everyone angry.
✅His lateness made everyone angry.
💡'lateness' is the noun form; 'late' is an adjective or adverb and cannot serve as a subject.

2. the quality of being at a time close to the end of the day, especially the eveni

2.名詞B2
釋義

the quality of being at a time close to the end of the day, especially the evening or night

例句

Due to the lateness of the hour, Nadia decided to stay at her friend's house.

lateness of the hour — fixed phrase

Keiko chose to postpone the phone call because of the lateness of the evening.

同義詞
反義詞
  • earliness

    the quality of being early in the day

文法句型

the lateness of + noun phrase

用法筆記

Almost always appears in the fixed structure 'the lateness of the [time period]' (hour, evening, night). Common in formal or written English. Does NOT describe a person arriving late — that meaning belongs to sense 1.