as in positively
in an approving manner
she smiled approvingly at the child who was performing onstage
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of approvingly
Pynchon is clearly a huge fan of detective fiction and quotes approvingly from the genre while not quite wanting to immerse himself fully within it.
—
Literary Hub, 10 Dec. 2025
Rotwood approvingly sees no such sentimentality in Wednesday.
—Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2025
Literary Hub, 10 Dec. 2025
Rotwood approvingly sees no such sentimentality in Wednesday.
—Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for approvingly
Adverb
-
How much Texans are able to feel how the Comptrollers office is positively affecting their lives, making their lives safer, better, more affordable.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Feb. 2026
-
There’s a romantic film positively gargantuan in scope that inspired hundreds of thousands of obsessives, but these two films could have aligned in being love stories about complete weirdos.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
12 Feb. 2026
Adverb
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Rain chances increase to around 60% to 70% in Phoenix, and totals could reach up to a quarter of an inch if the system tracks favorably.—
Hayleigh Evans,
AZCentral.com,
13 Feb. 2026
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Japan’s stock market responded favorably, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 index surging more than 5% to a fresh intraday high on expectations of tax cuts and higher government spending.—
Yumi Asada,
CNN Money,
8 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Approvingly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/approvingly. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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