Delayers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group of individuals or mechanisms that cause a postponement or extend the duration of a process or event
2. Entities that hinder timely progression by creating obstacles or barriers in the flow of actions
3. Agents responsible for making processes take longer than anticipated, thus delaying outcomes or results

Etymology: The word is built from "delay" and the agent suffix "-er", so it names something that delays. "Delay" came into English from Old French "delaier", whose ancestry runs through the Latin prefix "de-" and the Latin "laxare" (to loosen), a verb that also gave English "relax". Its older sense was to put off or defer, which is where the idea of a postponing thing begins. The "-er" ending comes from Old English "-ere", which marked a person or agent who performs an action, as in "baker" or "reader". Because English keeps adding that suffix freely to verbs, a writer can coin a new doer-noun such as "delayer" on the spot, and this term is a plain example of that habit.

Synonyms: postponers, procrastinators, stallers, hesitators, retarders

Antonyms: accelerators, hasteners, expediters, advancers, quickeners