Synonyms of heartening

heartening 1 of 2

adjective

1

as in promising

having qualities which inspire hope

a heartening visit to the hospital, where the patient was alert and sitting up

Synonyms & Similar Words

• promising
• bright
• optimistic
• encouraging
• hopeful
• likely
• upbeat
• reassuring
• propitious
• fair
• rosy
• auspicious
• positive
• golden
• comforting
• good
• favorable
• roseate
• doubtless
• sure
• soothing
• confident
• cheering
• rose-colored
• decisive
• assured
• bullish
• unhesitating
• beamish
• eupeptic

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• unlikely
• discouraging
• disheartening
• depressing
• desperate
• dark
• bleak
• dismal
• pessimistic
• hopeless
• gloomy
• dreary
• unpromising
• inauspicious
• uncertain
• doubtful
• cheerless
• negative
• downbeat
• unpropitious
• dubious
• grim
• unfavorable
• unencouraging
• gray
• comfortless
• grey
• bearish
• miserable
• glum
• funereal
• wretched

2

as in encouraging

making one feel good inside

hearing how his students still appreciated him after all those years was heartening to the music teacher

Synonyms & Similar Words

• encouraging
• comforting
• gratifying
• rewarding
• fulfilling
• satisfying
• loving
• warm
• heartwarming
• welcoming
• inspiring
• gladdening
• cheering
• uplifting
• moving
• poignant
• pleasing
• exciting
• touching
• sympathetic
• affecting
• kind
• inspiriting
• edifying
• thrilling
• stirring
• elevating
• exhilarating
• rousing
• kindly
• stimulating
• invigorating
• enlivening
• pleasurable
• animating
• tender

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• disheartening
• discouraging
• depressing
• dispiriting
• demoralizing
• disappointing
• saddening
• heartbreaking
• disconcerting
• dismaying
• heartrending
• disturbing
• cheerless
• displeasing
• distressing
• dissatisfying
• upsetting
• discomforting
• unpleasant
• unkind
• cold
• disgruntling
• unfriendly
• unfeeling
• unloving

3

as in favorable

pointing toward a happy outcome

the accomplishments of the first day were a heartening start to our renovation of the house

Synonyms & Similar Words

• encouraging
• promising
• favorable
• hopeful
• bright
• happy
• golden
• lucky
• propitious
• fortunate
• auspicious
• beneficial
• profitable
• advantageous
• salutary
• fortuitous
• prosperous
• providential

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• discouraging
• disheartening
• unfavorable
• hopeless
• dim
• unfortunate
• unpromising
• unpropitious
• inauspicious
• unhappy
• unlucky
• fatal
• disastrous
• catastrophic
• futureless
• ruinous
• calamitous
• dark
• ominous
• threatening
• sinister
• ill
• dire
• gloomy
• menacing
• portentous
• foreboding
• baleful
• direful
• minatory
• ill-boding
• doomy

heartening

2 of 2

verb

present participle of hearten

as in inspiring

to fill with courage or strength of purpose

thinking we were hopelessly lost, we were heartened by the sight of a familiar farmhouse

Synonyms & Similar Words

• encouraging
• inspiring
• inspiriting
• emboldening
• reassuring
• reinforcing
• cheering (up)
• bearing up
• invigorating
• stimulating
• enlivening
• steeling
• buoying (up)
• provoking
• exciting
• chirking (up)
• enforcing
• animating
• bucking up
• assuring
• reenforcing
• stirring
• rallying
• energizing
• strengthening
• galvanizing
• fortifying
• quickening
• boosting

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• discouraging
• disheartening
• daunting
• depressing
• undermining
• demoralizing
• dispiriting
• weakening
• saddening
• debilitating
• intimidating
• hamstringing
• enfeebling
• psyching (out)