expectancy.

1. A state of expecting something or a belief about a likely outcome.

2. An estimated period for which life or another condition is expected to continue.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• response expectancy
• sense of expectancy

On the page

The crowd's expectancy grew as the doors remained closed.

Usage notes

Primary category: psychology / human behavior. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: character, interpretation. Commonness: moderately common.