Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

Thesaurus

auspicious

adjective

Synonyms and Antonyms of auspicious

1 having qualities which inspire hope
  • It was an auspicious time to open a new business.
Synonyms of auspicious

bright, encouraging, fair, golden, heartening, hopeful, likely, optimistic, promising, propitious, rose-colored, roseate, rosy, upbeat
Words Related to auspicious

cheering, comforting, reassuring, soothing

assured, confident, decisive, doubtless, positive, sure, unhesitating

beamish, bullish

favorable, good
Near Antonyms of auspicious

cheerless, comfortless

doubtful, dubious, uncertain

bearish, grim, negative, unfavorable

funereal, glum, gray (also grey), miserable, wretched
Antonyms of auspicious

bleak, dark, depressing, desperate, discouraging, disheartening, dismal, downbeat, dreary, gloomy, hopeless, inauspicious, pessimistic, unencouraging, unlikely, unpromising, unpropitious
2 pointing toward a happy outcome
  • began the season with an auspicious win against their strongest football rival
Synonyms of auspicious

bright, encouraging, favorable, golden, heartening, hopeful, promising, propitious
Words Related to auspicious

fortuitous, fortunate, happy, lucky, providential

advantageous, beneficial, profitable, prosperous, salutary
Near Antonyms of auspicious

unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky

calamitous, catastrophic, disastrous, fatal, ruinous

baleful, dark, dire, direful, doomy, foreboding, gloomy, ill, ill-boding, menacing, minatory, ominous, portentous, sinister, threatening
Antonyms of auspicious

dim, discouraging, disheartening, futureless, hopeless, inauspicious, unfavorable, unpromising, unpropitious

Synonym Discussion of auspicious

favorable, auspicious, propitious mean pointing toward a happy outcome. favorable implies that the persons involved are approving or helpful or that the circumstances are advantageous.
    • favorable weather conditions
auspicious applies to something taken as a sign or omen promising success before or at the start of an event.
    • an auspicious beginning
propitious may also apply to beginnings but often implies a continuing favorable condition.
    • a propitious time for starting a business

Learn More about auspicious

  1. See words that rhyme with auspicious Dictionary: Definition of auspicious Spanish Central: Translation of auspicious Nglish: Translation of auspicious for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of auspicious for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up auspicious? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games