procrastiner
To procrastinate in French is to procrastiner.
The verb procrastiner is used to mean putting off or delaying taking action. For a more idiomatic alternative, you can use the phrase remettre à plus tard, which means to put something off until later.
Meaning: put off, to delay taking action (verb)
How does it change in a sentence?
The past participle of procrastiner is procrastiné. The first-person plural present indicative form is procrastinons, used to say 'we procrastinate'.
Did you know?
- French speakers might use the expression avoir la flemme to explain why they procrastiner, which translates to 'having the laziness'.
- A common playful way to describe someone who procrastinates in French is calling them a traînard, which comes from the verb traîner meaning 'to drag'.
- If you are 'putting off' a chore until tomorrow, you can use the expression reporter à demain, which uses the verb reporter to mean carry over or postpone.
Examples in context
- Tatoeba est un merveilleux moyen de procrastiner.Tatoeba is a great way to procrastinate.Tatoeba #2106589 by sysko, translation #679796 by Zifre
- J'ai tendance à remettre à plus tard mes devoirs.I tend to procrastinate on my homework.
- Hier, au lieu de travailler, j'ai passé mon temps à glander devant la télé.Yesterday, instead of working, I wasted my time lazing around in front of the TV.
- J'ai tendance à procrastiner le matin.I tend to procrastinate in the morning.
- Il ne faut pas procrastiner pour ce projet.You must not procrastinate on this project.
Example conversation
Lucas and Manon are talking about a school project.
- LucasAs-tu fini ton rapport, Manon ?Have you finished your report, Manon?
- ManonNon, j'ai encore tendance à procrastiner.No, I still tend to procrastinate.
- LucasTu devrais commencer maintenant.You should start now.
- ManonTu as raison, je m'y mets tout de suite.You're right, I'm getting to it right away.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “procrastinate” translations and entries procrastiner, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
