expectant

[ ik-spek-tuh nt ]

/ ɪkˈspɛk tənt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR expectant ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

having expectations; expecting: an excited, expectant audience.

pregnant; expecting: an expectant mother.

characterized by expectations: an expectant attitude.

in expectation; expected; prospective: an expectant fortune.

noun

a person who expects or who waits in expectation.

Nearby words

Origin of expectant

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin expectant- (stem of expectāns), present participle of expectāre to expect; see -ant

Related forms

ex·pect·ant·ly, adverbhalf-ex·pect·ant, adjectivehalf-ex·pect·ant·ly, adverbnon·ex·pect·ant, adjective

non·ex·pect·ant·ly, adverbo·ver·ex·pect·ant, adjectiveo·ver·ex·pect·ant·ly, adverbpre·ex·pect·ant, nounqua·si-ex·pect·ant, adjectivequa·si-ex·pect·ant·ly, adverbun·ex·pect·ant, adjectiveun·ex·pect·ant·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for expectant

Those feelings are due, in part, to the notion that if an expectant mom is super vigilant, she can control her pregnancy.
Medicine Bedevils Pregnant Women With Too Many Warnings About Risk|Lenore Skanazy|October 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST
By his own admission to reporters, Acevedo plowed into the cab carrying the expectant couple and then fled the scene.
Hit-and-Run Driver Julio Acevedo Talks, Suggests 50 Cent Connection|Michael Daly|March 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Thankfully (or perhaps not, for some expectant theatergoers), the play steers clear of nudity and anything too explicit.
‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Musical Goes Off-Broadway|Lizzie Crocker|January 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Expectant moms are advised to avoid alcohol, and dads often go along for the ride these days.
Kate Middleton Is Pregnant. For Real.|Tom Sykes|December 3, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Picture that energized and expectant crowd in the March on Washington at the feet of Lincoln.
March on Washington Anniversary: a Lesson for Change|Hedrick Smith|August 28, 2012|DAILY BEAST
In the carriage the talk was unceasing—talk of home, of expectant friends, of Christmas meetings and festivities.
Dead Man's Rock|Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
Gordon woke happy and expectant, but by break he had begun to feel a little shivery, and at lunch-time he was done to the world.
The Loom of Youth|Alec Waugh
Not only religion but every other good thing has assumed that attitude of expectant curiosity.
Humanly Speaking|Samuel McChord Crothers
On the appointed day, the river banks were thronged by an expectant crowd.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 64, No. 397, November 1848|Various
In a moment every seat was silently filled by the women and children, and the men, stolid but expectant, lined the wall.
In Happy Valley|John Fox

British Dictionary definitions for expectant

expectant

/ (ɪkˈspɛktənt) /

adjective

expecting, anticipating, or hopefulan expectant glance

having expectations, esp of possession of something or prosperity

pregnantan expectant mother

noun

a person who expects something

obsolete a candidate for office, esp for ecclesiastical preferment

Derived Formsexpectantly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for expectant

expectant

adj.

late 14c., from Old French expectant or directly from Latin expectantem/exspectantem (nominative expectans/exspectans), present participle of expectare/exspectare (see expect). Related: Expectantly. As a noun, from 1620s.

expectant

adjective

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of expectant

Examples from the Web for expectant

British Dictionary definitions for expectant

expectant

adjective

noun

Word Origin and History for expectant

expectant

Medicine definitions for expectant

expectant

adj.