expectantly

English

Etymology

From expectant +‎ -ly.

Adverb

expectantly (comparative more expectantly, superlative most expectantly)

1. In an expectant manner.

   The cat looked expectantly at the mouse.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. […] She looked around expectantly, and recognizing Mrs. Cooke's maid […] Miss Thorn greeted her with a smile which greatly prepossessed us in her favor.

   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     Professor Challenger was on his feet. His appearance and manner are peculiarly arresting, and as he raised his hand for order the whole audience settled down expectantly to give him a hearing.

   • 2008 January 8, Elissa Ely, M.D., “Homeless, With a New Loss: Identity”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 24 October 2015:

     So he went, uneconomically but expectantly, to the emergency room.

   • 2023 August 18, Francesca Street, “Her flight was canceled. Then she ended up on the doorstep of her future wife”, in CNN‎:

     Larissa felt “pulled” to Rachel, who was standing expectantly on Larissa’s doorstep.