favorable
Americanadjective
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characterized by approval or support; positive.
a favorable report.
-
creating or winning favor; pleasing.
to make a favorable impression.
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affording advantage, opportunity, or convenience; advantageous.
a favorable position.
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(of an answer) granting what is desired.
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boding well; propitious.
The signs are favorable for a new start.
Other Word Forms
- favorableness noun
- favorably adverb
- nonfavorable adjective
- nonfavorableness noun
- nonfavorably adverb
- overfavorable adjective
- overfavorableness noun
- overfavorably adverb
- prefavorable adjective
- prefavorably adverb
- quasi-favorable adjective
- quasi-favorably adverb
Etymology
Origin of favorable
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Middle French, from Latin favōrābilis; equivalent to favor + -able
Explanation
The word favorable describes something positive or promising, such as a two-thumbs-up movie review or the perfect conditions for golf. When things are going well, or in your favor, they’re favorable. Favorable is an adjective that describes approval or good conditions for something. If you wrote a book, you’d want the reviews to be favorable. If the weather is favorable, it's sunny out and perfect for a picnic. If you wanted to go swimming, thunderstorms would be unfavorable: they would ruin your plans. Favorable situations make us smile.
Vocabulary lists containing favorable
"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 3
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Content Summary G.3: Spatial Reorganization
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Charlotte's Web
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Kraus is simultaneously an influencer and writer who is paid for her content, which includes coverage of the administration from a mostly favorable lens.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026
“The decrease in rates represents a positive development for prospective home buyers and could spark a more favorable spring home-buying season than last year,” said Sam Khater, chief economist at Freddie Mac.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026
Cinquemani's research brings together these established ideas with newer evidence suggesting that impact-generated systems may also have played a role and, in some cases, may offer especially favorable conditions for early chemical reactions.
From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026
Carmakers reported mixed first-quarter US sales Wednesday pointing to a hit from winter storms, as the Middle East war clouds the industry's outlook compared with unusually favorable dynamics a year ago.
From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026
At the resentencing hearings we were preparing, state lawyers were using these prior disciplinaries to argue against favorable new sentences.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
