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

The festival is observed in mid-January according to the Tamil solar calendar and marks the beginning of Thai, an auspicious month for the Tamil community that falls between mid-January and mid-February. —Tamanna Nangia, Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Apr. 2026

For a team that is so young and has so little playoff experience, maturity is an auspicious trait. —Eric Koreen, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2026

Like all prophets, The Storyteller arrives at an auspicious moment in human history. —Bruce Stockler, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2026

Messenger Mercury in your 7th House of Equal Partnerships trines auspicious Jupiter in your 11th House of Networks, rallying general support and making specific agreements simpler to craft. —Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 3 Apr. 2026

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