1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

expectants

noun

plural of expectant
as in candidates
one who seeks an office, honor, position, or award divinity students who were all expectants for a curacy

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of expectants But for the design-minded expectants, choosing items for the registry can feel like a compromise between function and aesthetics. — Kate McGregor, Architectural Digest, 24 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expectants
  1. candidates
  2. applicants
  3. contenders
Noun
  • French President Emanuel Macron delivered a briefing to the candidates running to succeed him so disturbing that even the far-right National Rally’s leaders emerged denouncing Russian hybrid attacks.
    — Ben Smith, semafor.com, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Descano, a former prosecutor for the Obama administration, took office in Fairfax in 2020 as part of a movement of leftist prosecutor candidates backed by megadonor George Soros.
    — Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of candidates
Noun
  • One particularly big shift came around 2000, when about 280 colleges and universities allowed applicants to apply without submitting scores for the SAT or the ACT, another common standardized test.
    — Beth Kania-Gosche, The Conversation, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Achieve considers applicants with credit scores starting at 560.
    — Jason Stauffer, CNBC, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of applicants
Noun
  • See a running list of all of the international feature race contenders here.
    — Ellise Shafer, Variety, 18 Sep. 2026
  • The contenders consist of nine novels and one nonfiction book.
    — Gina Kalsi, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of contenders

Browse Nearby Words

expectantly
expectants
expectation
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Expectants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expectants. Accessed 23 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All