favorable
Americanadjective
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characterized by approval or support; positive.
a favorable report.
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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
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.
The company attributed the gain to higher sales volume and favorable price realization.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
The breakout to record highs by bank stocks, plus their strong earnings and favorable valuations, suggest more good times ahead for the financial sector.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Explaining his favorable ruling, Judge Robert Shelby wrote, “It is not the Constitution that has changed, but the knowledge of what it means to be gay or lesbian.”
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026
Superheating also reorganizes the magma at a microscopic level, making its internal structure more uniform and less favorable for new crystals to develop.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026
Fourteen of us have been removed to the Plover schooner and, receiving favorable winds, set off up the river, flying no colors.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
