Lambat

Lambat is a Malay and Indonesian word used as an adjective meaning slow or late, depending on the context. It can describe slow movement, a delayed event, or a late arrival. In everyday language it can function as an adverb, as in dia berjalan lambat or dia datang lambat.

The term is common across Malay-speaking communities in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and Singapore. In Indonesian, the root is often extended with prefixes to express related notions of lateness, such as terlambat (late) and keterlambatan (lateness or delay). The expression lambat-laun means gradually or eventually, while lambat-lambat is used colloquially to urge someone not to delay.

In contemporary usage, lambat also appears in technical contexts to describe latency, for example jaringan lambat or respons lambat, reflecting the same basic sense of delayed response. The word functions neutrally in routine discourse but can carry a evaluative nuance when contrasting speed and punctuality, such as in complaints about delays or inefficiency.

Related terms include terlambat, which denotes being late, and keterlambatan, the noun form for lateness or delay. Phrases such as lambat-laun and lambat-lambat illustrate flexible usage in Malay and Indonesian, from describing everyday pace to expressing expectations about timeliness.