UNPROPITIOUS Synonyms: 85 Similar and Opposite Words

unpropitious

adjective

Definition of unpropitious

as in unfavorable

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of unpropitious Handing the baton to Harris at this unpropitious time for Democrats is like Napoleon’s handing off his military command to Marshal Ney to conduct the disastrous French retreat from Moscow in 1812, featuring 500,000 French casualties. — Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 23 July 2024 The exhausted refugees are greeted by a functionary of the Relief Committee with the unpropitious nickname Statistics Babu. — Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 26 Dec. 2022 JoyFish sits in a strip mall in an unpropitious space that has seen several restaurants come and go. — Tan Vinh, The Seattle Times, 11 July 2017

Recent Examples of Synonyms for unpropitious

Adjective

None of this indicates that the terms are unfavorable to creators.

— Maureen Kerr, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026
The poll showed Rogers himself at 29% favorable and 32% unfavorable.

— Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of unfavorable

Adjective

The surprising discovery awaiting us below the thicket of its atmosphere has quashed the notion that worlds far from the Sun are unpromising destinations in the search for life-supporting environments.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 May 2026
ADCs were once widely viewed as an unpromising technology, but Daiichi Sankyo’s success has revived interest and intensified competition across the industry.

— PwC Consulting LLC Contributor, Forbes.com, 11 May 2026

Definition of unpromising

Adjective

Selina Wang, the lead author of the study, says the findings are particularly disheartening, as avocado oil products are often much more expensive than those made with olive or other vegetable oils.

— Brittney Melton, NPR, 24 July 2026
That process repeats over and over and can be very disheartening to the team.

— Peter Nelson, ArsTechnica, 10 July 2026

Definition of disheartening

Adjective

Yet their portrait of the artist as a hopeless snot-nosed punk doesn’t seem interested in knowing who this guy was past being another dude in search of a purpose.

— David Fear, Rolling Stone, 5 Aug. 2026
Echoing her sentiments, Shaharier remembered feeling hopeless when his baby boy was born so early.

— Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 29 July 2026

Definition of hopeless

Adjective

The storm let up before daybreak, but the morning was gray and cheerless with a cold wind.

— Elwyn "Bud" Myers, Outdoor Life, 11 Mar. 2026
Gomez gestured across the street toward 100 Centre Street—the criminal courthouse, a cheerless Art Deco building the color of cinder blocks.

— Sarah Lustbader, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025

Definition of cheerless

Adjective

The Voyagers have been skirting this dismal fate for years now, with NASA engineers carefully monitoring each spacecraft’s power supplies and plotting out when to turn off individual instruments to keep the missions going as long as possible.

— Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 7 Aug. 2026
So why did the stock market rally on Friday following the shockingly dismal jobs report?

— Kate Nishimura, Footwear News, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of dismal

Adjective

Set in the gloomy colder-weather months in San Francisco, Josephine focuses on a young girl (Mason Reeves) who witnesses a brutal rape while out on a jog with her dad, Damien (Channing Tatum), in Golden Gate Park.

— Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 11 Aug. 2026
With its fourth chapter, Reacher goes full neo-noir, embracing the genre’s fatalistic, gloomy approach while staying true to its action roots.

— James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of gloomy

Browse Nearby Words

unprompted

unpropitious

unprosperous

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Unpropitious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unpropitious. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of unpropitious

adjective

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

gnomic

Popular in Grammar & Usage

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

'Gaslighting,' 'Woke,' 'Democracy,' and Other Top Lookups

Popular

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes