expectant

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ɪkˈspɛktənt/ UK /ɪkˈspɛktənt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
hopefully anticipating something; pregnant

The expectant fans lined up hours before the doors opened.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · hopefully anticipating... anticipating hopeful eager waiting awaiting pregnant gravid

Opposites

resigned indifferent hopeless

Word family

Forms expectantly

Derived forms expectantlyexpectancy

Related forms expect expectationexpectance

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

expectant father
a man whose partner is pregnant; a father-to-be

Adjective + noun
expectant mother
a woman who is pregnant

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Latin exspectans, present participle of exspectare ('to look out for, await'), from ex- ('out') + spectare ('to look at'), frequentative of specere ('to look').

exspectare Latin specere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# expectant

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ɪkˈspɛktənt/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪkˈspɛktənt/

## Meanings
1. hopefully anticipating something; pregnant

## Examples
- The expectant fans lined up hours before the doors opened.

## Synonyms
- anticipating
- hopeful
- eager
- waiting
- awaiting
- pregnant
- gravid

## Antonyms
- resigned
- indifferent
- hopeless

## Derived Forms
- expectantly
- expectancy

## Related Forms
- expect
- expectation
- expectance

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: exspectare
- Root: specere - to look at

## Etymology
From Latin exspectans, present participle of exspectare ('to look out for, await'), from ex- ('out') + spectare ('to look at'), frequentative of specere ('to look').

## AI Etymology
Expectant is from Latin exspectans, present participle of exspectare ('to look out for, await'), from ex- ('out') + spectare ('to look at'), frequentative of specere ('to look'). Important recorded forms include exspectare (Latin) and specere (Latin). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers hopefully anticipating something; pregnant. The wider family includes derived forms such as expectantly and expectancy and related words such as expect, expectation, and expectance.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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