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.
“We’re here to make the Chrysler brand feel unexpected again, sharper, unapologetic and, yeah, a lot more attitude than people expect from a minivan brand,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026
The longer you hold out, the better — especially if you expect to live into your 80s.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 4, 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
"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
Surely she couldn’t expect us to travel to the Swiss Hotel, so far from London, amid war?
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
