Meaning & use
protract
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Meaning
verbtransitiveformaldisapproving
To make something last longer than necessary or expected, often in a way that is annoying or tiring.
Grammar: Takes an object: protract a meeting, protract the process. Often used in the passive: the negotiations were protracted.
Patterns
- protract something
- protract the process
- be protracted by something
The committee's endless questions protracted the meeting well past lunchtime.
Poor planning protracted the building work by several months.
He accused his opponents of trying to protract the debate to avoid a vote.
Word forms
| third person singular | protracts |
|---|---|
| past tense | protracted |
| past participle | protracted |
| -ing form | protracting |
Common combinations
- protract the process
- Delays in paperwork protracted the process for everyone.
- protract a meeting
- Please keep your report short so we don't protract the meeting.
- protracted negotiations
- After protracted negotiations, the two sides finally reached a deal.
- protracted illness
- A protracted illness kept her away from work for months.
Synonyms and how they differ
- prolong
- Prolong is the more neutral word for making something last longer; protract suggests the extra time is unnecessary and unwelcome.
- extend
- Extend simply means to make something longer, often on purpose and without criticism; protract usually carries disapproval.
- drag out
- Drag out is informal and stresses that something is being stretched out too much; protract is formal.
Opposites
Word family
- protracted adjective
- Lasting for a long time, especially longer than expected or wanted.
- protraction noun
- The act of making something last longer than necessary.
Commonly confused: protract or prolong? protract or extract?
protract vs prolong
Prolong is neutral and often positive (prolong life, prolong a visit); protract is negative and suggests needless delay.
protract vs extract
Extract means to take something out, while protract means to stretch something out in time. They sound similar but have unrelated meanings.
Practice
The lawyer's constant objections ___ the hearing until late in the afternoon.
Choose one answer.
Protracted fits because the objections made the hearing last longer than necessary and the tone is critical. Prolonged is possible but more neutral; extracted means 'took out' and distracted means 'took attention away', neither of which fits the delay.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “protract”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.