dilatory
DIL-uh-tor-eeadjMeaning slow to act; causing delay
Memory hook DILLY-DALLY-tory: slow to act. The waiter strolls, stops to read the paper, then dilly-dallies some more while the hungry diners watch the clock: he is dilatory.
The dilatory repair crew took three months to fix one pothole.
In context The committee’s dilatory approach frustrated everyone; it held meeting after meeting, putting off the decision again and again, while the old bridge kept crumbling.
Similar slow, tardy, sluggish, delaying
Opposite prompt, quick, punctual
From Latin dilatorius, “delaying.”