Meaning & use
postpone
Last updated
UK/pəˈspəʊn/
US/poʊˈstpoʊn/
Meaning
verbtransitive
To move something planned to a later date or time.
Grammar: Takes an object, or an -ing form, not an infinitive: postpone the meeting, postpone leaving.
Patterns
- postpone something
- postpone doing something
- postpone something until a time
They postponed the picnic because of rain.
We had to postpone the trip until spring.
She keeps postponing going to the dentist.
Word forms
| third person singular | postpones |
|---|---|
| past tense | postponed |
| past participle | postponed |
| -ing form | postponing |
Common combinations
- postpone a meeting
- They postponed the meeting.
- postpone indefinitely
- The launch was postponed indefinitely.
- postpone until next week
- Let's postpone it until next week.
- postpone the inevitable
- Delaying only postpones the inevitable.
Synonyms and how they differ
- delay
- Delay can mean something happens late by accident, while postpone is a deliberate decision to reschedule.
- put off
- Put off is a more informal phrasal verb and often suggests avoidance.
- reschedule
- Reschedule means setting a new time, whereas postpone only moves it later.
Opposites
bring forwardproceed
Word family
- postponement noun
- a change to a later time
Commonly confused: postpone or cancel?
postpone vs cancel
Cancel means the event will not happen at all; postpone means it will happen later.
Practice
The school decided to ___ the concert until next month.
Choose one answer.
Postpone means move to a later time. Cancel would end the event, so until next month would not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “postpone”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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