expectancy

/ɪkˈspektənsi/ (bre, ipa) · [ɪkspˈɛktənsi] /ɪkˈspektənsi/ (ame, ipa) · [ɪkspˈɛktənsi] /ik-ˈspek-tən(t)-sē/ (ame, mw)

expectancy — noun

1. a feeling of hope and excitement while waiting for a future event, especially on

1.名詞B2
釋義

a feeling of hope and excitement while waiting for a future event, especially one you believe will be good

例句

Samir opened the envelope with great expectancy, hoping for good news from the university.

collocation: with great expectancy

The children waited in a state of happy expectancy for the circus to begin.

同義詞
  • anticipation

    more active and immediate — you feel anticipation in the moments right before something happens

  • hope

    focuses on desire rather than confident belief; you can hope for something even when success is unlikely

  • eagerness

    emphasises impatience and keen desire, with less of expectancy's quiet confidence

  • expectation

    the everyday word for believing something will happen; 'expectancy' is rarer, more literary, and focuses on the emotional state of hopeful waiting

反義詞
  • dread

    the feeling of fearing something bad is about to happen, rather than something good

  • indifference

    having no feeling at all about what is coming

用法筆記

Often paired with adjectives like 'great,' 'eager,' 'happy,' or 'quiet' to describe the quality of the feeling. Less common in everyday speech than 'expectation' and carries a slightly literary tone. In very formal or dated usage, 'expectancy' can occasionally appear as a countable noun meaning 'something expected,' but natural English almost always uses 'expectation' for this meaning.

常見錯誤

❌The exam results did not meet my expectancy.
✅The exam results did not meet my expectation.
💡In everyday English, 'expectation' is the standard word for a belief about a future outcome; 'expectancy' focuses on the emotional state of hopeful waiting and sounds out of place here.