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
- auspiciously adverb
- auspiciousness noun
- unauspicious adjective
- unauspiciously adverb
Etymology
Origin of auspicious
First recorded in 1600–10; equivalent to Latin auspici(um) auspice + -ous
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 not particularly auspicious in terms of what comes next,” said Michael Wahid Hanna, the U.S. program director at International Crisis Group.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026
Pratt’s elders considered this auspicious and named him Vehunkis—meaning, roughly, “He wants to be a chief.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026
Payesh is commonly enjoyed during several auspicious occasions: birthdays, weddings, religious festivals and baby showers.
From Salon • Jan. 10, 2026
"I was surprised at the price...I hope that by eating auspicious tuna, as many people as possible will feel energised," he told reporters.
From Barron's • Jan. 5, 2026
The wedding will be in Calcutta, a little over a year from now, on an auspicious January day, just as she and her husband were married nearly thirty- four years ago.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
