拖延 (tuō yán) means 'to delay, put off, or procrastinate' — it focuses on the personal habit of delaying tasks, often due to laziness or avoidance. It differs from 推迟 (tuī chí), which is a neutral, planned postponement of an event, and from 耽误 (dān wu), which implies a negative consequence like holding someone up or wasting time. 拖延 carries a stronger sense of procrastination and self-caused delay.