Synonyms for wait
weɪtwait

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. waitnoun

   Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians.

   Synonyms:
   hold ones breath

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:4.3 / 3 votes

1. wait

   To abide is to remain continuously without limit of time unless expressed by the context: "to-day I must abide at thy house," Luke xix, 5; "a settled place for thee to abide in forever," 1 Kings viii, 13; "Abide with me! fast falls the eventide," Lyte Hymn. Lodge, sojourn, stay, tarry, and wait always imply a limited time; lodge, to pass the night; sojourn, to remain temporarily; live, dwell, reside, to have a permanent home. Stop, in the sense of stay or sojourn, is colloquial, and not in approved use. Compare ENDURE; REST.

   Synonyms:
   abide, anticipate, await, bear, bide, confront, continue, dwell, endure, expect, inhabit, live, lodge, remain, reside, rest, sojourn, stay, stop, tarry, tolerate, watch

   Antonyms:
   abandon, avoid, depart, forfeit, forfend, journey, migrate, move, proceed, reject, resist, shun

   Preposition:
   Abide in a place, for a time, with a person, by a statement.

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.5 / 2 votes

1. wait

   Synonyms:
   stay, tarry, rest, stop, bide, expect

   Antonyms:
   speed, hasten, press

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:3.5 / 4 votes

1. delay, hold, time lag, postponement, waitnoun

   time during which some action is awaited

   "instant replay caused too long a delay"; "he ordered a hold in the action"

   Synonyms:
   clutch, grip, storage area, delay, keep, holdup, detainment, deferral, handle, hold, appreciation, handgrip, cargo area, detention, postponement, waiting, custody, clasp, cargo deck, clench, clutches, grasp, time lag, deferment, cargo hold

2. wait, waitingverb

   the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something)

   "the wait was an ordeal for him"

   Synonyms:
   waiting, postponement, time lag, hold, delay

3. waitverb

   stay in one place and anticipate or expect something

   "I had to wait on line for an hour to get the tickets"

   Synonyms:
   expect, await, waitress, look, hold off, hold back

4. wait, hold off, hold backverb

   wait before acting

   "the scientists held off announcing their results until they repeated the experiment"

   Synonyms:
   await, waitress, hold in, keep, restrain, hold back, hold off, hold, look, check, conceal, retain, contain, keep back, forbear, stop, expect, arrest, turn back

5. expect, look, await, waitverb

   look forward to the probable occurrence of

   "We were expecting a visit from our relatives"; "She is looking to a promotion"; "he is waiting to be drafted"

   Synonyms:
   count, await, search, appear, depend, hold back, seem, carry, hold off, front, reckon, look, gestate, bet, attend, require, anticipate, waitress, take care, have a bun in the oven, face, ask, calculate, expect, bear, see

6. wait, waitressverb

   serve as a waiter or waitress in a restaurant

   "I'm waiting on tables at Maxim's"

   Synonyms:
   expect, await, waitress, look, hold off, hold back

Matched Categories

1. • Work

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. waitverb

   Synonyms:
   stay, tarry, delay, remain, linger, bide one's time

2. waitverb

   Synonyms:
   watch, look, be expectant

3. waitverb

   Synonyms:
   await, abide, stay for, wait for, look for

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. waitnoun

   Synonyms:
   waiting, delay, halt, stop, ambush, ambuscade

2. waitverb

   Synonyms:
   tarry, stay, linger, await, abide, delay, postpone, defer, procrastinate

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "wait":

   waiting, expect, await, expected, sufferance, -wait, w-wait, suspense, awaits, w-w-wait, espere, wait-wait-wait, expectation, standby, expects, expecting, delay, hold

Suggested Resources

1. WAIT

   What does WAIT stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the WAIT acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

How to pronounce wait?

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How to use wait in a sentence?

1. Jesse Hughes:

   I can not wait to get to Paris, i can not wait to play.

2. Matthew Davis:

   The time to respond to bullying, and to support victims of bullying, is during adolescence when it occurs, don’t wait to see whether it gets better ; make sure the teen bullying victim knows that he/she is not to blame.

3. Charley Jauss:

   We can sit there and wait for the clouds to open and the dove to fly down and for the Lord to speak to us out of the clouds, we've got to execute a plan by getting off the couch, taking it one step at a time, starting with that one small thing — and believing God will take us exactly where He wants us to go.

4. Rosanna Berardi:

   Where is Congress? Congress needs to fix this problem. This is not a state issue. This is not a presidential executive order issue. This is Congress not having control, states are saying, 'Hey, wait a minute, we’re clogged already. We have our own problems.'.

5. Bill Clinton:

   When I think about what young people today have gone through, what they have known from our country, starting with a horrible attack on 9/11, going into the great recession, there is no wonder that they along with so many of us are saying, wait a minute, we are better than this, we can do more.