expectancy
Americannoun
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the quality or state of expecting; expectation; anticipatory belief or desire.
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the state of being expected.
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an object of expectation; something expected.
noun
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something expected, esp on the basis of a norm or average
his life expectancy was 30 years
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anticipation; expectation
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the prospect of a future interest or possession, esp in property
an estate in expectancy
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of expectancy
From the Medieval Latin word ex(s)pectantia, dating back to 1590–1600. See expectant, -ancy
Explanation
Expectancy is the state of thinking (or hoping) that something will happen. You can sense the expectancy in the crowd just before your favorite band takes the stage. Use this word to talk about a sense of anticipation, like your little brother's expectancy every year on his birthday that someone will throw him a surprise party. It's also used to mean "an expected amount," especially in the context of life expectancy, or the average length of a person's life: "Typically, women have a longer life expectancy than men do." Expectancy is from expect, from a Latin root meaning "look for."
Vocabulary lists containing expectancy
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:
As this study illustrates, gains in life expectancy have not been shared equally.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
Due to longer life expectancy and declining birth rates, the world is getting older — and that shift is changing how people live, work, spend and manage their money.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
By 2100, life expectancy could exceed 90 years for women and 86 for men.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
The life expectancy for American women, according to 2024 CDC data.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
As the days grew shorter and colder, this new sense of expectancy increased and her heightened awareness seemed to give new significance to every common thing around her.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
Although these populations tend to have some of the world's longest life expectancies, they also experience relatively high levels of frailty in old age.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
“The new ‘magic number’ reflects a convergence of factors — from persistent inflation and longer life expectancies, to uncertainty about the future of Social Security,” said John Roberts, chief field officer at Northwestern Mutual.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 1, 2026
The aging of the baby boom generation—known as the “silver tsunami”—along with rising life expectancies pointed to years of steady demand and pricing power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
Globally and domestically, continued high birth rates have stayed tied to religiosity, poverty, higher infant mortality rates, shorter life expectancies, lack of economic opportunity, and low rates of education and basic rights for women.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2024
There are said to be a billion billion insects on the earth at any moment, most of them with very short life expectancies by our standards.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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.
