heartening

1 having qualities which inspire hope a heartening visit to the hospital, where the patient was alert and sitting up Synonyms auspicious, bright, encouraging, fair, golden, hopeful, likely, optimistic, promising, propitious, roseate, rose-colored, rosy, upbeatRelated Words cheering, comforting, reassuring, soothing; assured, confident, decisive, doubtless, positive, sure, unhesitating; beamish, bullish, eupeptic; favorable, goodNear Antonyms cheerless, comfortless; doubtful, dubious, uncertain; bearish, grim, negative, unfavorable; funereal, glum, gray (also grey), miserable, wretchedAntonyms bleak, dark, depressing, desperate, discouraging, disheartening, dismal, downbeat, dreary, gloomy, hopeless, inauspicious, pessimistic, unencouraging, unlikely, unpromising, unpropitious

2 making one feel good inside hearing how his students still appreciated him after all those years was heartening to the music teacher Synonyms cheering, comforting, encouraging, fulfilling, gladdening, gratifying, heartwarming, rewarding, satisfyingRelated Words 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, welcomingNear Antonyms cheerless, disappointing, disgruntling, displeasing, dissatisfying, heartbreaking, heartrending, saddening; discomforting, disconcerting, dismaying, distressing, disturbing, upsetting; cold, unfeeling, unfriendly, unkind, unloving, unpleasantAntonyms demoralizing, depressing, discouraging, disheartening, dispiriting

3 pointing toward a happy outcome the accomplishments of the first day were a heartening start to our renovation of the house Synonyms auspicious, bright, encouraging, golden, favorable, hopeful, promising, propitiousRelated Words fortunate, fortuitous, happy, lucky, providential; advantageous, beneficial, profitable, prosperous, salutaryNear Antonyms unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky; calamitous, catastrophic, disastrous, fatal, ruinous; baleful, dark, dire, direful, doomy, foreboding, gloomy, ill, ill-boding, menacing, minatory, ominous, portentous, sinister, threateningAntonyms dim, discouraging, disheartening, futureless, hopeless, inauspicious, unfavorable, unpromising, unpropitious