expectant
Americanadjective
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having expectations; expecting.
an excited, expectant audience.
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pregnant; expecting.
an expectant mother.
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characterized by expectations.
an expectant attitude.
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in expectation; expected; prospective.
an expectant fortune.
noun
adjective
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expecting, anticipating, or hopeful
an expectant glance
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having expectations, esp of possession of something or prosperity
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pregnant
an expectant mother
noun
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a person who expects something
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obsolete a candidate for office, esp for ecclesiastical preferment
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of expectant
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin expectant- (stem of expectāns ), present participle of expectāre to expect; see -ant
Explanation
If you're expectant, you're waiting excitedly for something. A throng of expectant fans might wait outside a concert venue, hoping for a glimpse of the band arriving. When someone's expectant, they are anticipating something good, eagerly awaiting it. When you're hoping for a call, your expectant glance might land on your cell phone every five minutes, and if you're especially hungry for lunch, you might keep an expectant eye on the clock during math class. Because pregnant women tend to be excitedly waiting for a baby to be born, they're also commonly described as expectant.
Vocabulary lists containing expectant
The Lemonade War
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Amina's Voice
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Salt to the Sea
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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.
The expectant parents married in April 2024, a year after Kaplan — whose producing credits include Netflix’s “To All the Boys” film series — popped the question.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
Kimmel had told a joke last week about how Melania Trump had “a glow like an expectant widow.”
From Slate • May 2, 2026
“Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
From Salon • Apr. 27, 2026
"Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow," Kimmel said.
From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026
It was not Gogolev’s book to lend, but the dark-eyed man of the law stood before him, expectant.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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.
