DEFINITIONS
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expectant

[ ik-spek-tuh nt ]
/ ɪkˈspɛk tənt /
SEE 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.

Words related to expectant

alert, anxious, apprehensive, awaiting, breathless, eager, expecting, hopeful, hoping, prepared, raring, ready, vigilant, watchful, anticipative, waiting, enceinte, pregnant, gravid, parturient

Words nearby expectant

expatiate, expatriate, expatriation, expect, expectancy, expectant, expectation, expectation of life, expectation sunday, expectation week, expectative

Origin of expectant

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

OTHER WORDS FROM expectant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for expectant

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 forms of expectant

expectantly, 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

Medical definitions for expectant

expectant
[ ĭk-spĕk′tənt ]

adj.

Pregnant.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.