expectation
- 01 B1 Intermediate
the feeling or state of waiting for something to happen.
the act or state of looking forward to an event as imminent or certain.
Simple“There is a general expectation that the weather will improve by the weekend.”
In context“The atmosphere in the stadium was thick with expectation as the fans waited for the championship match to begin.”
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
a strong belief about how someone should behave or what they should achieve.
a standard of conduct or performance expected by others.
Simple“My parents have high expectations for my final exam results.”
In context“The new CEO struggled to meet the unrealistic expectations of the board members during her first quarter.”
PitfallThe movie didn't reach my expectations. The movie didn't live up to my expectations.We usually use the phrasal verb 'live up to' or the verb 'meet' when talking about expectations.
Synonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
the average result you would get if you repeated an experiment many times.
the long-run average value of a random variable over many independent repetitions of an experiment.
Simple“In this game of chance, the mathematical expectation is that you will lose money over time.”
In context“The researcher calculated the mathematical expectation of the variable to determine the most likely outcome of the clinical trial.”
Synonymsexpected valuemean - 04 C2 Proficiency
waiting for a disease to get better on its own without using strong medicine.
the practice of leaving a disease to the natural healing efforts of the body rather than intervening with active treatment.
Simple“The doctor suggested a period of expectation to see if the cough cleared up naturally.”
In context“In historical medical texts, 'expectation' refers to a conservative approach where the physician monitors the patient without administering drugs.”
Synonymswatchful waitingAntonyms
Usage unrealistic expectation
“The economy expanded by 0.4%, in line with market expectations but below a 0.6% increase in the first three months of this year.”
“Financial markets reacted calmly to the latest figures, with stocks little changed as the numbers were broadly in line with market expectations.”
From Middle French expectation, from Latin exspectātiō, from exspectō (“expect”). By surface analysis, expect + -ation. Displaced native Old English wēn.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.