Definition of encouraging
:giving hope or promise
- encouraging news
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Examples of encouraging in a Sentence
We've just heard some encouraging news.
encouraging signs that the economy is improving
Recent Examples of encouraging from the Web
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As the show begins, dancers move throughout the audience, encouraging participation and enthusiastic consent.
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Smart money also says rookie Mitch Trubisky will experience a few bumps in the road after such an encouraging debut.
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In the end, Scaramucci had a borderline encouraging soliloquy about being comfortable with and true to yourself—something his old boss has never been accused of—and his obvious pride in being a forthright person.
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Norcross’ job was not always encouraging or inspirational, though.
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Even an encouraging performance from a A-baller who might be years away from making the Show.
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Even the sainted Franklin Roosevelt vacillated between expansionary fiscal policy and austerity, and between attacking corporate power and encouraging monopoly.
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Obamacare hasn’t been shown to have saved any lives (mortality trends since its implementation are not especially encouraging), and there is little reason to expect a partial repeal of it to endanger any.
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Encouraging friends to sleep with your exes requires all involved to ignore a whole pile of romantic norms that have long given structure to the social lives of young Americans, which can be unsteady ground for even the most sure-footed among us.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'encouraging.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of encouraging
1593
encouraging Synonyms
Synonyms
auspicious, bright, hopeful, fair, golden, heartening, likely, optimistic, promising, propitious, roseate, rose-colored, rosy, upbeatAntonyms
bleak, dark, depressing, desperate, discouraging, disheartening, dismal, downbeat, dreary, gloomy, hopeless, inauspicious, pessimistic, unencouraging, unlikely, unpromising, unpropitiousRelated Words
cheering, comforting, reassuring, soothing; assured, confident, decisive, doubtless, positive, sure, unhesitating; beamish, bullish, eupeptic; favorable, goodNear Antonyms
cheerless, comfortless; doubtful, dubious, uncertain; bearish, grim, negative, unfavorable; funereal, glum, gray (also grey), miserable, wretchedENCOURAGING Defined for English Language Learners
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for encouraging Spanish Central: Translation of encouraging Nglish: Translation of encouraging for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of encouraging for Arabic speakers
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