expect
Usage
What are other ways to say expect?
The verb expect implies confidently believing, usually for good reasons, that an event will occur: to expect a visit from a friend. To anticipate is to look forward to an event and even to picture it: Do you anticipate trouble? Hope implies a wish that an event may take place and an expectation that it will: to hope for the best. Await (wait for) implies being alert and ready, whether for good or evil: to await news after a cyclone.
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.
It was as distasteful a segment as you’d expect from “Update,” yet also somehow straddled the line between wallowing in the scandal and mining some genuine laughs out of it.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 5, 2026
"But I cannot go to your own village and contest for office there and expect to win," said 32-year-old Methuselah Jeji.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
Yet in a post on X, Sam Altman wrote: “I don’t expect them to go any easier on us, am sure I’ll do my part to help enable that with occasional stupid decisions.”
From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026
If they’re struggling to keep up with costs, we’d expect to see consumer spending suffer.
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
Either way, his presence here is something I didn’t expect and am not prepared to handle.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
