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Japanese vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "delayed" in Japanese?
遅れた
okure ta
In Japanese, "delayed" is 遅れた (okure ta).
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Pronunciation
O-ku-re-ta, four syllables, past tense of okureru (to be late), said with even, unhurried stress, ironically.
Writing and usage
遅れた is written using kanji. It's a adjective, and this word is also taught inside the Noun Town language learning game, where it appears in interactive lessons alongside hundreds of other everyday words.
Example sentence
フライトは1時間遅れた。
furaito ha 1 jikan'okure ta.
The flight was delayed by an hour.
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How to remember 遅れた
Okureta sounds like 'oh, cure, tah' — oh, there's no cure for a delayed train, you just wait.
Related words
- ancient 古代 kodai
- modern モダンな modan na
- traditional 伝統的な dentouteki na
- modernized 近代化された kindaika sareta
- stingy ケチ kechi
- humble 謙虚 kenkyo
- arrogant 傲慢だ gouman da
- flexible 柔軟な juunanna
- rigid 硬い katai
Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.
Questions about 遅れた
How do you pronounce 遅れた?
O-ku-re-ta, four syllables, past tense of okureru (to be late), said with even, unhurried stress, ironically.
Is 遅れた formal or casual?
遅れた is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech. The level of formality comes from the sentence structure around it, not from the word itself.
How is 遅れた written in Japanese?
遅れた is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as okure ta.
Where can I practice Japanese words for free?
You can play free Japanese minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, with no sign-up needed. Every word in the Japanese glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.
"Delayed" in other languages
Curated by Callan Ratcliffe
This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Japanese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation. Want to play the full game? Get Noun Town on Steam.
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