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Anticipation

/ænˌtɪs.ɪˈpeɪ.ʃən/ · noun

Meaning

The act of anticipating, taking up, placing, or considering something beforehand, or before the proper time in natural order..

Definitions by Sense

  1. The act of anticipating, taking up, placing, or considering something beforehand, or before the proper time in natural order.
  2. The eagerness associated with waiting for something to occur.
  3. (finance) Prepayment of a debt, generally in order to pay less interest.
  4. (rhetoric) Prolepsis.
  5. (music) A non-harmonic tone that is lower or higher than a note in the previous chord and a unison to a note in the next chord.
  6. (obsolete) Hasty notion; intuitive preconception.

Example Sentences

Often the anticipation of a shot is worse than the pain of the stick.
So shall my anticipation prevent your discovery, and your secrecy to the king and queen moult no feather.
He waited with great anticipation for Christmas to arrive.
He waited in anticipation of the arrival of Christmas.
I was giddy with anticipation.
November 20, 1836, Samuel Thodey, The Honour Attached to Eminent Piety and Usefulness anticipation of that final hour which he had long contemplated as near at hand
The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;[…]. Now she had come to look upon the matter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold.
[M]any Men give themſelves up to the firſt anticipations of their minds, and are very tenacious of the Opinions that firſt poſſeſs them; [...]

Synonyms for anticipation

Antonyms for anticipation

Related Words

Word Forms

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does anticipation mean?

Anticipation means The act of anticipating, taking up, placing, or considering something beforehand, or before the proper time in natural order..

What is a synonym for anticipation?

Common synonyms include expectingness, foresight, expectation, expectancy.

What is the opposite of anticipation?

The opposite depends on the specific sense.

How do you use anticipation in a sentence?

Often the anticipation of a shot is worse than the pain of the stick.

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.