- past tense form of anticipate.
- past participle of anticipate.
anticipated
Americanadjective
-
predicted, foreseen, or expected.
New, more efficient heating equipment will lower your energy bills, and the installment payments are calculated so that they can be offset by the anticipated energy savings.
-
looked forward to.
The hotly anticipated sequel is set to be released on November 14.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of anticipated
Explanation
If you've ever waited hopefully for an event to happen, then you know when something is anticipated. A newscaster calling out the winning numbers of your lottery ticket might be highly anticipated. Anticipated generally came with a little bit of hope and a little bit of anxiety. If getting into college is an anticipated moment, you may feel butterflies in your stomach, even as you imagine yourself strolling across the perfectly manicured campus lawns. Anticipated can also mean that you expected something to happen and that you were therefore prepared for it. If a difficult French test is anticipated, you may have baked your teacher cookies to sweeten her up — or maybe you studied.
Vocabulary lists containing anticipated
“About Edward Jenner” from the Jenner Institute
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"The Hunger Games" Vocabulary from Chapter 24
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The Meaning of Maggie
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Ford said it will kill several EV models and pivot toward hybrids, while Honda canceled the rollout of its anticipated 0 Series EVs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
"What surprised us was that the calving instead followed a different fracture, producing a smaller ice island than we had originally anticipated," Garbo said.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
Reports last week indicated the deal was done, meaning it was widely anticipated among investors.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
Heidi O’Neill is slated to step in as chief executive next week, a move that is highly anticipated by shareholders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Perhaps if I had made that observation, I would have anticipated that Journey would not be on this mission.
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
