definitions

expectant

[ ik-spek-tuh nt ]
/ ɪkˈspɛk tənt /
|

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

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

Examples from the Web for unexpectantly

  • 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

  • Unexpectantly he picked up the sand-encrusted lump and brushed it off.

    The Fortieth Door|Mary Hastings Bradley

British Dictionary definitions for unexpectantly

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 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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Medicine definitions for unexpectantly

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.