These words all point to the future, and the likelihood of certain events or conditions taking place. Expectation and expectancy are close synonyms meaning the waiting for something to happen, or the probability with which the awaited can be presumed to happen.

• There had been no expectation of war with the Japanese until their abrupt attack on Pearl Harbour; Those who drop out of school must lower their expectation of success.

Expectancy is used to describe a state of tense expectation : There was an air of expectancy as the Prime Minister rose to his feet to make a statement. It is also commonly encountered in the phrase life expectancy .

Anticipation , in this context, is a strong expectation based on fore-knowledge.

• The anticipation of rising floodwaters leads the farmer to move his stock to higher ground; building up the armed forces in anticipation of war.

Hope , as here considered, is expectation based on desire, with or without any likelihood that the hoped-for will happen or materialize.

• Parents have high hopes for their children; A man saves money in the hope that inflation will not wipe it out.

Outlook and prospect refer to future probabilities based on present indications or analyses.

• The employment outlook for the next year is based in part on contracts signed this year; The outlook for this weekend is good, with warm, sunny weather expected to last until Monday.

Whereas outlook may describe grim expectations , prospect is more often applied to expectations of success, profit or comfort: The outlook was bleak; the prospect of taking off his shoes and settling down into an easy chair with a good book; good prospects for complete recovery from the illness. The association with pleasant expectations is, however, not invariable: The prospect of a bloody war was alarmingly increased.