Dictionary

expectantly en · ADV

Etymology

Etymology tree English expectant Middle English -ly English -ly English expectantly From expectant + -ly.

Meanings

1. In an expectant manner.
   • So he went, uneconomically but expectantly, to the emergency room. 2008 January 8, Elissa Ely, M.D., “Homeless, With a New Loss: Identity”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 24 Oct 2015:
   • The cat looked expectantly at the mouse.
   • Larissa felt “pulled” to Rachel, who was standing expectantly on Larissa’s doorstep. 2023 August 18, Francesca Street, “Her flight was canceled. Then she ended up on the doorstep of her future wife”, in CNN:
   • Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady.[…]She looked around expectantly, and recognizing Mrs. Cooke's maid[…]Miss Thorn greeted her with a smile which greatly prepossessed us in her favor. 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
   • Professor Challenger was on his feet. His appearance and manner are peculiarly arresting, and as he raised his hand for order the whole audience settled down expectantly to give him a hearing. 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

Forms