Synonyms and Antonyms of encouraging
1
having qualities which inspire hope
- encouraging signs that the economy is improving
auspicious, bright, fair, golden, heartening, hopeful, likely, optimistic, promising, propitious, rose-colored, roseate, rosy, upbeat
cheering, comforting, reassuring, soothing
assured, confident, decisive, doubtless, positive, sure, unhesitating
beamish, bullish, eupeptic
favorable, good
cheerless, comfortless
doubtful, dubious, uncertain
bearish, grim, negative, unfavorable
funereal, glum, gray (also grey), miserable, wretched
bleak, dark, depressing, desperate, discouraging, disheartening, dismal, downbeat, dreary, gloomy, hopeless, inauspicious, pessimistic, unencouraging, unlikely, unpromising, unpropitious
2
making one feel good inside
- the encouraging story of a young girl who overcame great social and physical obstacles to become an outstanding athlete
affecting, inspiring, inspiriting, moving, poignant, stirring, touching
edifying, elevating, uplifting
sympathetic, tender
kind, kindly, loving, warm
animating, enlivening, exciting, exhilarating, invigorating, rousing, stimulating, thrilling
pleasing, pleasurable, welcoming
cheerless, disappointing, disgruntling, displeasing, dissatisfying, heartbreaking, heartrending, saddening
discomforting, disconcerting, dismaying, distressing, disturbing, upsetting
cold, unfeeling, unfriendly, unkind, unloving, unpleasant
3
pointing toward a happy outcome
- we're off to an encouraging start on this project
unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky
calamitous, catastrophic, disastrous, fatal, ruinous
baleful, dark, dire, direful, doomy, foreboding, gloomy, ill, ill-boding, menacing, minatory, ominous, portentous, sinister, threatening
