await

await — verb

1. to expect that someone or something will arrive or happen, often used in formal

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to expect that someone or something will arrive or happen, often used in formal writing instead of the everyday phrase 'wait for'; can also describe a future event, decision, or experience that lies ahead of a person.

Example

The Nadia family is awaiting the results of Hiro's hospital tests.

await + noun phrase: medical results

Reporters gathered outside the courthouse, awaiting the judge's final decision.

present participle 'awaiting' for an ongoing wait

Common collocations
  • await a decision
  • await a reply
  • await trial
  • await the results
  • eagerly await
  • anxiously await
Synonyms
  • wait for

    everyday phrasal equivalent; use in speech and informal writing

  • anticipate

    adds a sense of expecting something specific, often with hope or worry

  • expect

    stresses belief that something will happen, not the act of waiting

  • be in store for

    informal idiom matching the 'X awaits Y' pattern, often for surprises

Grammar Patterns

await + noun phrase

Usage Note

More formal than 'wait for', and never followed by 'for' (write 'await the results', not 'await for the results'). Often used in news, legal, and business writing, or in literary contexts where a future event is described as 'awaiting' a person.

Common Mistakes

We are awaiting for your reply.
We are awaiting your reply.
'await' is transitive and takes a direct object, never 'for'.
Please await until Monday.
Please wait until Monday.
'await' must be followed by a noun, not a time clause; use 'wait' for that.

Word family

  • awaited
    adjectiveB2
  • long-awaited
    adjectiveB2
  • wait
    verbA1
  • wait
    nounA2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four describe looking ahead to something that has not yet happened, but they differ sharply in register and focus. 'Wait for' is the everyday choice in speech and informal writing: 'I'm waiting for the bus.' 'Await' is its formal cousin, common in news reports, legal notices, and business letters; it takes a direct object with no preposition: 'We await your reply.' 'Anticipate' shifts the attention from the act of waiting to the mental preparation for what is coming, often with eagerness or worry: 'The team anticipated tough questions from the board.' 'Expect' is the most neutral of the four — it simply states that you believe something will happen, with no sense of waiting or emotion: 'I expect rain tomorrow.'

await ↗wait foranticipate ↗expect ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • await further instructions
  • await your reply
  • await trial
  • await the outcome

Etymology

GermanicOld North FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

Formed in Middle English from the Old North French 'awaitier', built from the prefix 'a-' (meaning 'to' or 'towards') and 'waitier' (to watch). The Old French root traces back to a Germanic source related to the modern English 'watch'. The early sense was literally 'to watch out for' or 'to lie in wait for', which over time softened into the modern formal meaning of patiently waiting for an event or person.