Skip to content

tardío

late

adjective tahr-DEE-oh Rare

Origin: Latin tardivus (slow, late)

Also means

belated

Usage Note

Tardío means coming after the expected or ideal time — it modifies nouns (un reconocimiento tardío, belated recognition) and differs from tarde (the adverb 'late' or the noun 'afternoon'). It is common in historical contexts (el gótico tardío, late Gothic) and medical ones (diagnóstico tardío, late diagnosis). The feminine is tardía.

Examples

"El médico hizo un diagnóstico tardío."

Natural Translation

The doctor made a late diagnosis.

Free starter pack

Building your Spanish vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common Spanish words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore Spanish by topic