grace period

noun

: a period of time beyond a due date during which a financial obligation may be met without penalty or cancellation

Examples of grace period in a Sentence

The terms of the loan allow for a ten-day grace period.

Recent Examples on the Web

Even if Trump postpones tariffs after the 30-day grace period, what will stop him from reinstating them anytime over the next four years, investors will wonder. —Andres Oppenheimer, Miami Herald, 4 Feb. 2025

Hernandez also proposed a 60-day grace period for parking tickets and vehicle impounds. —Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell, Newsweek, 15 Jan. 2025

On Tuesday’s first day of committee meetings, GOP lawmakers introduced a series of familiar bills that would tighten regulation of ballot drop boxes and eliminate the state’s three-day grace period for late-arriving mail ballots. —Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 15 Jan. 2025

After each zone is officially created, the city is providing a grace period to move their vehicles before abatement proceeds. —Devan Patel, The Mercury News, 21 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1907, in the meaning defined above

Legal Definition

grace period

noun

grace pe·​ri·​od

: a period of time beyond a scheduled date during which a required action (as payment of an obligation) may be taken without incurring the ordinarily resulting adverse consequences (as penalty or cancellation): as

a

: a period of 30 days or one month during which premiums on insurance policies may be paid without penalty

b

: a period of ten days during which certain security interests (as those in fixtures) must be perfected in order to have priority over conflicting security interests under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code

called also days of grace