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.
Automakers this year expect to sell about 16 million new cars to Americans.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026
Economists expect the Fed to hold rates steady at the June meeting, but they’ll be looking for three major signs that central-bank officials are open to hikes later this year.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 6, 2026
“That is why it is important to keep searching for technosignatures, even from objects we might not expect to have signals.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2026
When the whistle blows for the first kickoff, expect the complaining to stop and the cheering to start.
From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026
As we left Coogie told my aunt, “Better not expect him for lunch.”
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
Vocabulary lists containing expect
"Eleven"
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List 5
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Think
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