auspicious
Americanadjective
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promising success; propitious; opportune; favorable.
an auspicious occasion.
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favored by fortune; prosperous; fortunate.
adjective
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favourable or propitious
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archaic prosperous or fortunate
Usage
The use of auspicious to mean `very special' (as in this auspicious occasion ) should be avoided
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of auspicious
First recorded in 1600–10; equivalent to Latin auspici(um) auspice + -ous
Explanation
Use the adjective auspicious for a favorable situation or set of conditions. If you start a marathon by falling flat on your face, that's not an auspicious start. If something seems likely to bring success — either because it creates favorable conditions or you just consider it a lucky sign — label it auspicious. The word is related to auspice, "a divine omen," an old word with a colorful history. In Latin, an auspex was a person who observed the flight of birds to predict things about the future. Luckily, you no longer have to be a bird-watching fortune-teller to guess whether something is auspicious or not.
Vocabulary lists containing auspicious
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To Kill a Mockingbird
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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.
It’s the time and the place that the movie occurs, too: fall 1990, an auspicious moment in tech history.
From Salon • Jun. 8, 2026
It is an unusually nuanced take on a subject that too often generates reflexive fulminating or fawning, and a truly auspicious start to the New Museum’s new chapter.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026
She planned to hang traditional Chinese couplets -- usually on auspicious red paper -- before sharing a family meal.
From Barron's • Feb. 13, 2026
Ahead of Lunar New Year this month, Chinese households typically decorate their doors with couplets - a set of auspicious writings heralding health and prosperity in the new year.
From BBC • Feb. 4, 2026
To Haynes, with his geologist’s training, the dates were auspicious.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
