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Suppose vs Expect - What's the difference?

suppose | expect |

As verbs the difference between suppose and expect

is that suppose is to take for granted; to conclude, with less than absolute supporting data; to believe while expect is to look for (mentally); to look forward to, as to something that is believed to be about to happen or come; to have a previous apprehension of, whether of good or evil; to look for with some confidence; to anticipate; -- often followed by an infinitive, sometimes by a clause (with, or without, that).

suppose

English

Verb

(suppos)
  • To take for granted; to conclude, with less than absolute supporting data; to believe.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=15 citation , passage=‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough! […] What about the kid's clothes? I don't suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn't you keep anything? A bootee or a bit of embroidery or anything at all?’}}
  • To theorize or hypothesize.
  • * , chapter=5
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. […] When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose .}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-09-06, author= David Cox
  • , volume=189, issue=13, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Celebrity rules even Hawking's universe , passage=Just what is supposed to be wrong with the pursuit of fame is not always made clear. Plato disapproved of competition for praise on the grounds that it would tempt the great to bend to the will of the crowd. It is hard to argue with that, and social degradation remains a fear.}}
  • To imagine; to believe; to receive as true.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • How easy is a bush supposed a bear!
  • * (Bible), 2 (w) xiii. 32
  • Let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men, the king's sons; for Amnon only is dead.
  • *
  • As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish,I do not suppose that it matters much in reality whether laws are made by dukes or cornerboys, but I like, as far as possible, to associate with gentlemen in private life.
  • To require to exist or to be true; to imply by the laws of thought or of nature.
  • Purpose supposes foresight.
  • * 1752 , (Charlotte Lennox), (The Female Quixote)
  • One falsehood always supposes another, and renders all you can say suspected.
  • To put by fraud in the place of another.
  • Synonyms

    * assume (1,2) * See also

    Derived terms

    * supposable * supposed to (idiom) * supposedly

    Statistics

    * English reporting verbs ----

    expect

    English

    (Webster 1913)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To look for (mentally); to look forward to, as to something that is believed to be about to happen or come; to have a previous apprehension of, whether of good or evil; to look for with some confidence; to anticipate; -- often followed by an infinitive, sometimes by a clause (with, or without, that).
  • *, chapter=13
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=“[…] They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably.” And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes.}}
  • To consider obligatory or required.
  • To consider reasonably due.
  • To be pregnant, to consider a baby due.
  • (obsolete) To wait for; to await.
  • * (rfdate) (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616):
  • Let's in, and there expect their coming.
  • *1825 , (Walter Scott), , A. and C. Black (1868), 24-25:
  • The knight fixed his eyes on the opening with breathless anxiety, and continuing to kneel in the attitude of devotion which the place and scene required, expected the consequence of these preparations.
  • (obsolete) To wait; to stay.
  • (Sandys)

    Usage notes

    * Expect'' is a mental act and has always a reference to the future, to some coming event; as a person expects to die, or he expects to survive. ''Think]]'' and ''believe'' have reference to the past and present, as well as to the future; as I think the mail has arrived; I believe he came home yesterday, that he is he is at home now. There is a not uncommon use of ''expect'', which is a confusion of the two; as, I expect the mail has arrived; I expect he is at home. This misuse should be avoided. ''[[await, Await'' is a physical or moral act. We await that which, when it comes, will affect us personally. We expect what may, or may not, interest us personally. See ''anticipate . * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See

    Synonyms

    * anticipate * look for * await * hope

    Derived terms

    * expected adjective * expecting adjective * unexpected

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * except 1000 English basic words