pregnant
1 Americanadjective
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having a child or other offspring developing in the body; with child or young, as a woman or female mammal.
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fraught, filled, or abounding (usually followed bywith ).
a silence pregnant with suspense.
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teeming or fertile; rich (often followed byin ).
a mind pregnant in ideas.
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full of meaning; highly significant.
a pregnant utterance.
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of great importance or potential; momentous.
a pregnant moment in the history of the world.
adjective
adjective
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carrying a fetus or fetuses within the womb
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full of meaning or significance
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inventive or imaginative
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prolific or fruitful
Other Word Forms
- pregnantly adverb
- pregnantness noun
Etymology
Origin of pregnant1
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin praegnant- (stem of praegnāns ), variant of praegnās, equivalent to prae- pre- + *gnāt- (akin to ( g ) nātus born, gignere to bring into being) + -s nominative singular ending
Origin of pregnant2
1350–1400; Middle English preignant < Old French, present participle of preindre, earlier priembre to press 1 < Latin premere. print
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Family members said Loera-Zarco was pregnant, and the couple had been preparing to welcome their baby boy next Friday.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
Leavitt, who is pregnant, is set to take leave beginning in May.
From Slate • Apr. 3, 2026
The programme, which feeds an estimated 60 million children and pregnant and breastfeeding women at a cost of nearly a tenth of the annual budget, is President Prabowo Subianto's signature project.
From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026
The updated guidance addresses treatment strategies for a wide range of groups, including pregnant or breastfeeding individuals, adults age 75 and older, and people with conditions such as diabetes, advanced kidney disease, HIV, or cancer.
From Science Daily • Mar. 29, 2026
There’s a pregnant woman next to us, and she lies on a blanket, rubbing her belly while her husband sits at her side.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.