expectant

[ ik-spek-tuhnt ]
See synonyms for: expectantexpectantly on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. having expectations; expecting: an excited, expectant audience.

  2. pregnant; expecting: an expectant mother.

  1. characterized by expectations: an expectant attitude.

  2. in expectation; expected; prospective: an expectant fortune.

noun
  1. a person who expects or who waits in expectation.

Origin of expectant

1
1350–1400; Middle English <Latin expectant- (stem of expectāns), present participle of expectāre to expect; see -ant

Other words from expectant

  • ex·pect·ant·ly, adverb
  • half-ex·pect·ant, adjective
  • half-ex·pect·ant·ly, adverb
  • non·ex·pect·ant, adjective
  • non·ex·pect·ant·ly, adverb
  • o·ver·ex·pect·ant, adjective
  • o·ver·ex·pect·ant·ly, adverb
  • pre·ex·pect·ant, noun
  • qua·si-ex·pect·ant, adjective
  • qua·si-ex·pect·ant·ly, adverb
  • un·ex·pect·ant, adjective
  • un·ex·pect·ant·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use expectant in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for expectant

expectant

/ (ɪkˈspɛktənt) /


adjective
  1. expecting, anticipating, or hopeful: an expectant glance

  2. having expectations, esp of possession of something or prosperity

  1. pregnant: an expectant mother

noun
  1. a person who expects something

  2. obsolete a candidate for office, esp for ecclesiastical preferment

Derived forms of expectant

  • expectantly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012