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Glite Dictionary
bated

bated

1 9.5
Having a held-back feeling of excitement or worry
  • adjective
  • /ˈbeɪtɪd/
  • Archaic
translation icon : contenido
  • There are some people who are waiting with bated breath for me to give them the answer.
  • with bated breath
  • wait with bated

So we will look forward with bated breath to September.

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Examples

  • But we'll have to all wait with bated breath for that, myself included.

    Andrew Huberman

  • So we will look forward with bated breath to September.

    Rich Roll

  • I wait with bated breath.

    Blog text (13)

  • Now, I know you have all been sitting at your computers, constantly hitting refresh, just waiting with bated breath to see what I would write.

    Blog text (8)

  • While the world waits with bated breath to see what we will do next, we pause.

  • The audience waited with bated breath as the magician prepared to reveal his final trick.

  • She spoke quietly, each word measured, keeping her excitement with bated breath as the news unfolded.

  • When the results were announced, the students listened with bated breath, hoping for good news.

Synonyms

unexcited
vsbated
1 3.7

Calm and not showing strong feeling

shows restrained intensity, with feelings moderated rather than absent

Antonyms

intensified
4.2

Made stronger or more serious

Idioms

bated breath
  • Informal
5 7.1

A nervous, excited feeling while waiting for something to happen

How Restrained

bated
  • Archaic
1 9.5
subdued
11 5.5
muted
19 4.0

Surface Forms

bated positive

Morphology

bated = bate (semi-transparent) = bate + ed

Formed from the verb 'bate' + '-ed' and directly means 'restrained' or 'lessened', but 'bate' is rare/archaic and 'bated' mainly survives in the idiom 'bated breath', so learners may not generalize the meaning.

Etymology

Bated comes from the shorter form of abate, which means 'to lessen' or 'hold back'. So bated means something made smaller or held back, which is why 'with bated breath' shows you are holding your breath and keeping your excitement down.