anticipated

American

[an-tis-uh-pay-tid] / ænˈtɪs əˌpeɪ tɪd /

adjective

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

the simple past tense and past participle of anticipate.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of anticipated

anticipate ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

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.

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Vocabulary lists containing anticipated

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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.

See Examples For:

anticipated

Anthropic reports a $567 million operating loss in the third quarter ahead of its highly anticipated initial public offering.

From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026

Analysts were expecting negative free cash flow for that period, meaning they anticipated the company would spend more on capital expenditures and operating costs than it would generate in cash through its business.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026

If the warming rate measured over the past decade continues, researchers warn that the planet could cross that threshold on a long-term basis sooner than previously anticipated.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2026

Ijoma gives the example of Final Fantasy VII. First released in 1997, it got a highly anticipated remake in 2020.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

Stock prices and the dollar’s value dropped sharply as investors anticipated a national crisis.

From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023