as in anticipation
the act or state of looking forward to some occurrence
that feeling of optimistic expectancy that fills theatergoers as they wait for the curtain to rise
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Examples of expectancy in a Sentence
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Afghanistan was much poorer when the United States invaded than Bosnia was at the time of the NATO intervention: adult life expectancy was about 48, one in seven children died before the age of five, and most men (and almost all women) were unable to read or write.
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Rory Stewart, Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2021
Here’s what to look out for: advertisement Blinding and expectancy bias
The gold standard is for clinical research to be double-blinded — meaning patients don’t know whether they’ve been given the drug or a placebo, and neither do the researchers.
—Olivia Goldhill, STAT, 31 May 2024
Even in pastoral scenes like his study of two magnolia warblers, the little birds vibrate with expectancy, each obviously poised for flight.
—Danny Heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 May 2024
Such expectancy effects influence clinical trials of all kinds.
—Brendan Borrell, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for expectancy 
Rory Stewart, Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2021
Here’s what to look out for: advertisement Blinding and expectancy bias
The gold standard is for clinical research to be double-blinded — meaning patients don’t know whether they’ve been given the drug or a placebo, and neither do the researchers.
—Olivia Goldhill, STAT, 31 May 2024
Even in pastoral scenes like his study of two magnolia warblers, the little birds vibrate with expectancy, each obviously poised for flight.
—Danny Heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 May 2024
Such expectancy effects influence clinical trials of all kinds.
—Brendan Borrell, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for expectancy
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'expectancy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Expectancy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expectancy. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.
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