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.
Their relationship with Max is also much more personal: Anna was Max’s pregnant lawyer in the trial where Max stood accused of killing his expectant wife, while Tom was the prosecutor.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
Many parents Rigby meets are skeptical of the accounts, while expectant parents whose newborns will qualify for the $1,000 are excited about them.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
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
The crowd at the 42,000-seater Stade Atlantique will be loud, big and expectant - it is on course to set a new record attendance for a Women's Six Nations match in France.
From BBC ● May 16, 2026
Maybe not to Mom and Jack, who are both observing me with expectant looks on their faces.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
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.
