retrasarse
verbCEFR B1
What does “retrasarse” mean in English?
to be delayed, to run late
to be delayed, to run late (reflexive; subject is the transport, event, or person that is late)
Example sentences
El vuelo se retrasó tres horas porque los controladores aéreos estaban en huelga, así que perdimos la conexión que habíamos reservado con meses de antelación.
The flight was delayed by three hours because air traffic controllers were on strike, so we missed the connecting flight we had booked months in advance.
Me retrasé en el check-in porque la cola era larguísima y tuve que reclamar que me dejaran pasar antes de que cerrara la puerta.
I was delayed at check-in because the queue was very long and I had to demand they let me through before the gate closed.
How to use it
Retrasarse means 'to be delayed' or 'to run late', and is always reflexive. The grammatical subject is typically the delayed entity — the flight, train, or event — not the person affected: 'El vuelo se retrasó' (The flight was delayed), not '*el piloto se retrasó el vuelo'. The passive-looking English construction 'the flight was delayed' maps to the Spanish reflexive: 'el vuelo se retrasó' or 'el vuelo se ha retrasado'. It can also be used for a person who runs late: 'Me retrasé porque había atasco'.
Common mistake
Learners sometimes produce 'fue retrasado' (true ser-passive) for a flight delay — this is not wrong but is rare and formal in Spanish. The reflexive 'se retrasó' is the natural idiomatic form for delays.