- 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
Derived 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.
May’s labor-market report showed the economy added more jobs than Wall Street anticipated.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 5, 2026
Bell Potter had anticipated a US$100 million raise at A$0.63/share.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
“No long-term health effects are anticipated in the community as a result of this incident.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2026
Quantinuum raised $1.68 billion in its upsized initial public offering late Wednesday, setting the stage for one of the most anticipated tech listings of the year.
From Barron's • Jun. 4, 2026
I go for a bag, and realize they’re a lot heavier than I had anticipated.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
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.
