island time

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

A notional system of time which others sometimes derogatorily ascribe to islanders (e.g. Hawaiians or Fijians), and which they sometimes jocularly ascribe to themselves, to account for their supposed tendency to be leisurely, not rigorous about scheduling, and often tardy.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

hệ thống thời gian được cho là của người dân trên đảo, thường bị coi là thiếu nghiêm ngặt về lịch trình và thường xuyên chậm trễ

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Register: derogatory, slang

Where it’s used: Used American English

Examples

He's operating on island time. Sorry I'm late, I must be running on island time.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).

Common questions

What does “island time” mean?

A notional system of time which others sometimes derogatorily ascribe to islanders (e.g. Hawaiians or Fijians), and which they sometimes jocularly ascribe to themselves, to account for their supposed tendency to be leisurely, not rigorous about scheduling, and often tardy.

Is “island time” formal or informal?

island time is generally derogatory, slang.