- 1遲來的、過遲的（生日祝福常說「遲來的」）
Belated means late in a special way: the right time has already gone by, and this comes after. We use it most for kind words that arrive too late — belated birthday wishes, a belated thank-you, a belated apology. It is a little more formal and written than just late. You would not usually say “I was belated for class”; you were late. Though actually, the old verb belate (“to make someone late”) is almost gone, so today belated lives almost only as this adjective. It can also describe a feeling or an act that comes later than it should: a belated realisation, a belated attempt to fix things. It is not rude by itself; it often arrives with an apology already sitting inside it.
組成From the old verb belate (be- + late, “to make late”) + -ed, the ending that turns it into an adjective.
原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
belatedadj/bɪˈleɪtɪd/
- 1
Affected or overtaken by the lateness of the time; hence, synonym of benighted (“overtaken by night; caught out by oncoming night before reaching one's destination”).
- […] Faerie Elves, / VVhoſe midnight Revels, by a Forreſt ſide / Or Fountain ſome belated Peaſant ſees, / Or dreams he ſees, […]
- At first the steps of a few belated villagers, or the sound of voices from the village, lightened our vigil, but one by one these interruptions died away, and an absolute stillness fell upon us, save for the chimes of the distant church, which told us of the progress of the night, […]
- 2
Later in relation to the proper time which something should have happened; specifically, delayed beyond the proper time.
- A belated happy birthday to you!
- Henceforth vve are to ſtear by another ſort of Authors; neer enough to the things they vvrite, as in thir ovvn Countrie, if that vvould ſerve; in time not much belated, ſome of equal age; […]
- 3
Slow to learn or to adopt a trend; hence, lacking education or sophistication; benighted, unenlightened, unsophisticated.
- The devil drives the world, whip in hand,—and oddly enough (considering that some belated folk still fancy there is a God somewhere) succeeds in managing his team with extraordinary ease!
這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：
- belate
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。