Belated means coming later than it should have, or arriving after the expected or proper time. When your aunt sends you a belated birthday card that arrives two weeks after your actual birthday, she's acknowledging that her greeting is late. The card still carries her good wishes, but everyone recognizes it missed the moment.

The word almost always appears with an apologetic tone. You might offer belated congratulations to a friend whose science fair victory you just heard about weeks later, or belated condolences when you learn belatedly (notice the related adverb) about someone's loss.

Belated differs from simply “late” because it emphasizes that something specific was supposed to happen at a particular time. A late bus is just running behind schedule, but a belated apology is one that should have been given days or weeks ago. The word carries a sense of “better late than never,” recognizing both the delay and the attempt to make things right anyway.