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

India’s busiest wedding and festive season typically runs from October to April, timed with auspicious dates and favorable weather. — CNN Money, 30 July 2026

On July 29, the sun will join forces with Jupiter in Leo, creating one of the year’s most auspicious, confidence-boosting and potentially rewarding transits. — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 29 July 2026

Chicago, a city with an auspicious past and present of prestidigitation and legerdemain, has never before had a space for magic anything close to The Hand & The Eye. — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 20 July 2026

The tournament hardly got off to an auspicious start for Asia, with both China and India yet again failing to qualify for world soccer’s biggest spectacle. — Simon Chadwick, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026

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