expectant

[ik-spek-tuh nt]

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.

Origin of expectant

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

Related formsex·pect·ant·ly, adverbhalf-ex·pect·ant, adjectivehalf-ex·pect·ant·ly, adverbnon·ex·pect·ant, adjectivenon·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 unexpectantly

Historical Examples of unexpectantly

Unexpectantly he picked up the sand-encrusted lump and brushed it off.
The Fortieth Door
Mary Hastings Bradley
Then, unexpectantly, the truant arrived, arrived proud and triumphant in the early morning before Hamilton was awake.
Bones
Edgar Wallace
The women could see his empty coat-sleeve flutter as he walked slowly and unexpectantly in that glorious evening light.
Strangers and Wayfarers
Sarah Orne Jewett

British Dictionary definitions for unexpectantly

expectant

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 unexpectantly

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.

unexpectantly in Medicine

expectant

[ĭk-spĕk′tənt]

adj.

Pregnant.