expectancy

noun

ex·​pec·​tan·​cy ik-ˈspek-tən(t)-sē 

plural expectancies

1

a

: the act, action, or state of expecting

The strange expectancy that getting on any train gives us …

—John Updike

b

: the state of being expected

occurs with an expectancy slightly greater than usual

2

a

: something expected

Their belief led to an expectancy.

an expectancy of an inheritance

b

: the expected amount (as of the number of years of life) based on statistical probability

life expectancy

Synonyms of expectancy

• anticipation
• expectation

Examples of expectancy in a Sentence

that feeling of optimistic expectancy that fills theatergoers as they wait for the curtain to rise

Recent Examples on the Web

The researchers used a waitlist rather than an active control group, so results could partly reflect expectancy or placebo effects. —New Atlas, 17 Oct. 2025

Columbia also scored high in the health category, with women in the city enjoying the 10th-best life expectancy at birth. —Soo Kim, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025

Such is the expectancy around Arsenal now, a 1-0 loss to a bewitching free kick, the kind of sudden inspiration that decides a close and claustrophobic game, hit the team hard. —Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 1 Sep. 2025

There was a mood of expectancy mingled with apprehension, and a sense of the audience holding its collective breath. —Literary Hub, 14 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1600, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing expectancy

• life expectancy

Kids Definition

expectancy

noun

ex·​pect·​an·​cy

ik-ˈspek-tən-sē

plural expectancies

1

: expectation sense 1

2

: the expected amount (as of years of life) based on statistical probability

life expectancy

Medical Definition

expectancy

noun

ex·​pec·​tan·​cy -ˈspek-tən-sē 

plural expectancies

: the expected amount (as of the number of years of life) based on statistical probability see life expectancy

Legal Definition

expectancy

noun

ex·​pec·​tan·​cy

plural expectancies

: something expected: as

a

: an interest held by a person who may receive something (as a bequest) in the future but has no enforceable right to it

b

: the benefit that will be received from a contract if performed