Meaning
belated, late
- Occurring, arriving, or done later than expected or desired.
- Developing or ripening late in the season.
In a sentence
Le sue scuse tardive non sono bastate a placare la rabbia.
His belated apologies were not enough to calm the anger.
L'intervento dei soccorsi si è rivelato purtroppo troppo tardivo.
The emergency response unfortunately proved to be too late.
Non credi che un simile chiarimento sia ormai tardivo?
Don't you think that such a clarification is now too late?
Word forms (4)
| Word | Word forms |
|---|---|
| tardivo | masculine · singular |
| tardiva | feminine · singular |
| tardivi | masculine · plural |
| tardive | feminine · plural |
Usage notes
- Often describes apologies, interventions, or regrets arriving too late to change an outcome.
- Differs from 'in ritardo', which functions as an adverbial phrase ('in ritardo' = late; 'tardivo' = belated).