aguardar

To wait for or await something — aguardar noticias, aguardar su turno. A slightly more formal or literary register than the everyday esperar, common in written Spanish, legal/administrative language, and set phrases like queda aguardar ("all that's left is to wait").

• Aguardamos su respuesta con impaciencia. — We're awaiting your reply impatiently.
• El público aguardaba en silencio el resultado. — The audience waited in silence for the result.
• Solo nos queda aguardar a que pase la tormenta. — All we can do now is wait for the storm to pass.

Using aguardar in casual spoken conversation where esperar would sound far more natural — aguardar tends to read as formal or literary, not wrong but noticeably elevated in everyday chat.