expectant

[ik-spek-tuhnt]

adjective

1. having expectations; expecting.

   an excited, expectant audience.

2. pregnant; expecting.

   an expectant mother.

3. characterized by expectations.

   an expectant attitude.

4. in expectation; expected; prospective.

   an expectant fortune.

noun

1. a person who expects or who waits in expectation.

expectant

/ ɪkˈspɛktənt /

adjective

1. expecting, anticipating, or hopeful

   an expectant glance

2. having expectations, esp of possession of something or prosperity

3. pregnant

   an expectant mother

noun

1. a person who expects something

2. obsolete,  a candidate for office, esp for ecclesiastical preferment

Other Word Forms

• expectantly adverb
• half-expectant adjective
• half-expectantly adverb
• nonexpectant adjective
• nonexpectantly adverb
• overexpectant adjective
• overexpectantly adverb
• preexpectant noun
• quasi-expectant adjective
• quasi-expectantly adverb
• unexpectant adjective
• unexpectantly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of expectant¹

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

Example Sentences

Thousands of expectant mothers in the East of England have taken up a new NHS service and more are being encouraged to take part.

From BBC

“Ensuring all our employees, including expectant mothers, feel safe and supported is extremely important to us,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.

From Los Angeles Times

Tippy Toes also helps expectant parents who are struggling.

From BBC

He's not expecting a great deal of patience from an expectant fanbase.

From BBC

Kulumbegashvili plunges us into a delivery room as an expectant mother struggles to give birth, the filmmaker’s camera shielding us from nothing as the hospital staff desperately try to extract the child.

From Los Angeles Times