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Business English vocabulary · Deadlines and Scheduling

Behind schedule

Meaning in business english, with examples

/bɪˌhaɪnd ˈskedʒuːl/phraseCore term

In business english, behind schedule means: Later than planned; not making progress as fast as the schedule says it should.

In Turkish: programın gerisinde, gecikmeli, takvimin gerisinde

How it is used

Used in status reports and meetings, often with a measure: 'two weeks behind schedule'. The opposites are 'on schedule' and 'ahead of schedule'. People also say 'running late' or 'falling behind'.

Example sentences

  1. The construction work is about three weeks behind schedule because of the weather.

  2. We're slightly behind schedule, but we can still meet the deadline if we add one more tester.

Common collocations

  • fall behind schedule
  • weeks behind schedule
  • run behind schedule
  • ahead of schedule
  • on schedule
  • on trackMaking the expected progress, so that a plan, target or deadline is likely to be met.
  • deadlineThe latest date or time by which a piece of work must be finished, sent or delivered.
  • push backTo move a planned date or time to later; also, to resist or argue against a request, plan or decision.
  • timelineA plan that shows when each stage of a project or process will happen, or the total time available to complete it.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Deadlines and Scheduling

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