cautious expectation
- noun
:
expectativa cautelosa
- Many investors viewed the new government policy with cautious expectation rather than outright enthusiasm.
Examples
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The scientists waited for the test results in an atmosphere of cautious expectation.
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She approached the project with a cautious expectation of success.
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He watched the developments unfold with a sense of cautious expectation.
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His cautious expectations were based on previous experiences.
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Many investors viewed the new government policy with a sense of cautious expectation rather than outright enthusiasm.
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The scientists waited for the test results in an atmosphere of cautious expectation.
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He watched the developments unfold with a sense of cautious expectation.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A feeling that something good will happen
633
2.8
A belief that something will happen in the future
145
3.4
A feeling of eager waiting for something that will happen
64
5.1
A feeling of waiting and hoping for something to happen
A quiet, excited feeling in a place where people wait for something
Antonyms
How Pessimistic
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'cautious' (avoiding risk) modifying 'expectation' (a belief about a future event), yielding an expectation tempered by caution. This is a standard adjective+noun combination that is cross-linguistically common and should be immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Cautious expectation comes from the image of someone watching a fragile new plant or a baby animal: they are full of hope but move slowly and carefully because they fear something might go wrong. So, cautious, meaning 'careful', plus expectation, meaning 'hope', describes the feeling 'a hope mixed with caution'.