as in confidently
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Recent Examples of expectantly
Gilberg considered the question, hands clasped beneath his chin, the traffic outside humming expectantly.
—
Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2026
Inside, guests are greeted by the cozy tavern, a cocktail of rustic Adirondack style and modern trappings—the tables adorned in their nightly best, expectantly awaiting patrons.
—Lauren Breedlove, Travel + Leisure, 5 Jan. 2026
The man looked at Schreiber expectantly.
—Literary Hub, 9 Dec. 2025
Now Ronny looked up at her expectantly.
—Bryan Washington, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2025
In the clip, Blakely can be seen looking off camera expectantly, evidently aware something is happening.
—Jack Beresford, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Aug. 2025
Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2026
Inside, guests are greeted by the cozy tavern, a cocktail of rustic Adirondack style and modern trappings—the tables adorned in their nightly best, expectantly awaiting patrons.
—Lauren Breedlove, Travel + Leisure, 5 Jan. 2026
The man looked at Schreiber expectantly.
—Literary Hub, 9 Dec. 2025
Now Ronny looked up at her expectantly.
—Bryan Washington, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2025
In the clip, Blakely can be seen looking off camera expectantly, evidently aware something is happening.
—Jack Beresford, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expectantly
Adverb
-
The classically louche yet confidently glitzy Golden Globes energy had been missing for much of the night until Roberts, a true movie star who couldn’t care less, came onstage to present the award for Best Musical or Comedy.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
12 Jan. 2026
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Maybe this is as close as critics and artists are ever likely to ever get — sitting at different tables in the same oversized pan-Asian restaurant in front of a giant Quan Yin statue that Adrien Brody so confidently misidentified as Shiva last year.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
9 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
On December 18, 2025, the North Carolina Chief Medical Examiner’s Office, with assistance from the North Carolina SBI Crime Lab, positively identified the remains as Bethany Brown.—
Mark Price
January 7,
Charlotte Observer,
7 Jan. 2026
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After starting positively under Dyche, Forest have lost their past four games, leaving them four points above West Ham in 17th.—
Roshane Thomas,
New York Times,
6 Jan. 2026
Adverb
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Consider Virginia McLaurin, who joyfully danced with the Obamas at age 106 and later supported youth mentoring, or Edith Renfrow Smith, now 110, whose advocacy for education continues to inspire.—
Norman B. Gildin,
Sun Sentinel,
6 Jan. 2026
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Warming up, Smith throws back his head and belts Bieber lyrics, joyfully off-key.—
Sam Kestenbaum,
Vulture,
2 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
Abu Daqqa shows videos set to music of him riding his sleek, silver and black machine, circling fast and joyously in the waves, testing its speed and agility.—
NPR,
NPR,
24 Nov. 2025
-
They are felt as they are composed, painfully, joyously, cellularly—and they are designed for other biological beings to experience, to connect with, to be animated, provoked and moved by.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Nov. 2025
Adverb
-
The girls are giddily planning the wedding and bachelorette party as if several core issues are not still unresolved.—
Jessica M. Goldstein,
Vulture,
19 Dec. 2025
-
Just a few weeks earlier, Miguel Angel Garcia Medina, 31, had been cavorting with his four children at their Arlington, Texas, home, meeting his 8-year-old daughter for lunch at school and giddily planning the arrival of their fifth child.—
Rick Jervis,
USA Today,
22 Nov. 2025
Adverb
-
Stewart, who has been a Chanel ambassador since 2013 and has therefore worn the designs of all three of the brand’s post-Coco Chanel designers, saw a realism in the models’ mix of casual clothes and exuberantly formal ones, with jackets thrown over arms and newspapers stuffed into handbags.—
Rachel Tashjian,
CNN Money,
3 Dec. 2025
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Hell, clearly the most violent of the realms, makes for the most exuberantly entertaining of the books, filled with action, fantastical monsters, and occasional farce.—
Claudia Roth Pierpont,
New Yorker,
24 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Expectantly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expectantly. Accessed 23 Jan. 2026.
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