heartening

1 having qualities which inspire hope a heartening visit to the hospital, where the patient was alert and sitting up Synonyms of heartening auspicious, bright, encouraging, fair, golden, hopeful, likely, optimistic, promising, propitious, roseate, rose-colored, rosy, upbeatWords Related to heartening cheering, comforting, reassuring, soothing; assured, confident, decisive, doubtless, positive, sure, unhesitating; beamish, bullish, eupeptic; favorable, goodNear Antonyms of heartening cheerless, comfortless; doubtful, dubious, uncertain; bearish, grim, negative, unfavorable; funereal, glum, gray (also grey), miserable, wretchedAntonyms of heartening 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 of heartening cheering, comforting, encouraging, fulfilling, gladdening, gratifying, heartwarming, rewarding, satisfyingWords Related to heartening 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 of heartening cheerless, disappointing, disgruntling, displeasing, dissatisfying, heartbreaking, heartrending, saddening; discomforting, disconcerting, dismaying, distressing, disturbing, upsetting; cold, unfeeling, unfriendly, unkind, unloving, unpleasantAntonyms of heartening 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 of heartening auspicious, bright, encouraging, golden, favorable, hopeful, promising, propitiousWords Related to heartening fortunate, fortuitous, happy, lucky, providential; advantageous, beneficial, profitable, prosperous, salutaryNear Antonyms of heartening unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky; calamitous, catastrophic, disastrous, fatal, ruinous; baleful, dark, dire, direful, doomy, foreboding, gloomy, ill, ill-boding, menacing, minatory, ominous, portentous, sinister, threateningAntonyms of heartening dim, discouraging, disheartening, futureless, hopeless, inauspicious, unfavorable, unpromising, unpropitious