anticipate

UK/ænˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt//ænˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/

anticipate verb: to act before (someone), especially to prevent an action.

Verb

anticipate (third-person singular simple present anticipates, present participle anticipating, simple past and past participle anticipated)

(transitive) To act before (someone), especially to prevent an action.
- c. 1824 (written, published in 1891) Robert Hall, Fragment on Popery
  When two parties, each formidable for their numbers, and the weight of their influence and property, are animated by an equal degree of zeal, it is natural to anticipate the final success of that which possesses the most inherent...
- He would probably have died by the hand of the executioner, if indeed the executioner had not been anticipated by the populace.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XX, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and...
Synonyms:

preclude, provide, preempt, discount
(transitive) To take up or introduce (something) prematurely.
- The advocate plans to anticipate a part of her argument.
(transitive) To know of (something) before it happens; to expect.
- to anticipate the pleasures of a visit
- to anticipate the evils of life
Synonyms:

expect, foretaste, foresee
(transitive) To eagerly wait for (something)
- Little Johnny started to anticipate the arrival of Santa Claus a week before Christmas.
Synonyms:

look forward to

anticipate meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

anticipate in Bengali

আগে কাজ করা, অকালে গ্রহণ করা, প্রবর্তন করা, আশা করা, অধীর আগ্রহে অপেক্ষা করা

anticipate in Malayalam

മുൻകൂട്ടി നിരൂപിക്കുക, മുൻകൂട്ടി കാണുക, പ്രതീക്ഷിക്കുക

More languagesFewer languages

anticipate in Kannada: ಎದುರುನೋಡು, ನಿರೀಕ್ಷಿಸು, ಕಾದಿರು, ಹಾದಿಕಾಯು
anticipate in Punjabi: اڈیکنا uḍīkṇā
anticipate in Arabic: تَوَقَّعَ tawaqqaʕa, اِرْتَقَبَ irtaqaba

Examples of anticipate in a sentence

Please anticipate a journey of an hour from your house to the airport.
But surely they did not anticipate the ease with which their team raced into an almost impregnable half-time lead.2011 October 2, Jonathan Jurejko, “Bolton 1 - 5 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport:

All 40 example sentences with anticipate

Synonyms of anticipate

All synonyms of anticipate

Forms of anticipate

third-person singular present	anticipates
present participle	anticipating
past participle	anticipated
past	anticipated

Past tense of anticipate: anticipated

Origin of anticipate

Borrowed from Latin anticipātus, perfect passive participle of anticipō (“to anticipate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from ante- (“before”), + capiō (“to take”, cip- when prefixed) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). See capable.

Words formed from anticipate

Questions about anticipate

What does anticipate mean?: Anticipate means to act before (someone), especially to prevent an action.
What is anticipate in Tamil?: Anticipate in Tamil is எதிர்பார், முந்திச்செய், முன்பே அறி. See Anticipate meaning in Tamil.
How do you use anticipate in a sentence?: Please anticipate a journey of an hour from your house to the airport.
What part of speech is anticipate?: Anticipate is a verb.
How do you pronounce anticipate?: Anticipate is pronounced /ænˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/ (UK).
What is the past tense of anticipate?: The past tense of anticipate is anticipated.

Words near anticipate in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: anticipate (page history and authors); anticipate (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); anticipate (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); anticipate (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); anticipate (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); anticipate (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); اڈیکنا (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-anticipate.ogg.

Cite this entry: “anticipate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/anticipate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.