behindhand

To be behindhand means to be delayed in doing something and therefore fall behind schedule or lag behind what should already have been finished. It sounds a bit old-fashioned now, but imagine a tailor who is behindhand with orders—work isn’t done when promised. You might be behindhand with your bills if payment is late, or behindhand with a project at work if progress is slower than expected. Nowadays it is most often used for owing money, being behind on payments, or missing a deadline in a mild, conversational way.

The word behindhand describes being delayed or lagging in time, progress, or completion. It suggests someone is not keeping up with what is expected, whether that is tasks, payments, or correspondence. While less common in modern conversation than phrases like “behind schedule” or “falling behind,” it still appears in contexts where someone has not done something by the expected time.

Its older meaning sits alongside beforehand: if you are beforehand, you are ready in advance; if you are behindhand, you are behind the expected point in time. The word is built from “behind” + “hand,” and here “hand” points to a point in time or stage of progress rather than to “handedness.”

You might say someone is "behindhand with their correspondence" if they haven't replied to letters promptly. Or perhaps a gardener is "behindhand with weeding" if the garden has become overgrown. It is often used in contexts where there is an expectation of timeliness or social duty, even if there isn't a strict, modern deadline. While you might not hear it every day, behindhand adds a touch of old-world charm to descriptions of being slightly out of step or delayed—a reminder that sometimes we are simply not as far along as we ought to be.