Synonyms of auspicious

auspicious

adjective

ȯ-ˈspi-shəs 

1

as in promising

having qualities which inspire hope

told him she couldn't dance with him just then, but her auspicious smile encouraged him to ask again later

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

2

as in favorable

pointing toward a happy outcome

began the season with an auspicious win against their strongest football rival

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Synonym Chooser

How is the word auspicious different from other adjectives like it?

The words favorable and propitious are common synonyms of auspicious. While all three words mean "pointing toward a happy outcome," auspicious applies to something taken as a sign or omen promising success before or at the start of an event.

an auspicious beginning

In what contexts can favorable take the place of auspicious?

In some situations, the words favorable and auspicious are roughly equivalent. However, favorable implies that the persons involved are approving or helpful or that the circumstances are advantageous.

favorable weather conditions

When would propitious be a good substitute for auspicious?

The synonyms propitious and auspicious are sometimes interchangeable, but propitious may also apply to beginnings but often implies a continuing favorable condition.

a propitious time for starting a business

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of auspicious

Gillian Anderson’s 2008 visit to the Cannes Film Festival was not especially auspicious. —Gregg Kilday, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2026

The streets around Beijing’s iconic Forbidden City are often filled with brides and grooms, posing for wedding photos against auspicious red backdrops in a place that strongly reflects Chinese culture and tradition. —Janis MacKey Frayer, NBC news, 14 May 2026

Use Mercury’s auspicious connection to Jupiter to organize your itinerary. —Usa Today, USA Today, 13 May 2026

But the actor isn’t letting the auspicious moment go to his head. —Matt Brennan editor, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026

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