The Meaning of Auspicious: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know the definition of auspicious? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the word auspicious, including its definition, usage, word origin, example sentences, and more!

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What does the word auspicious mean?

According to dictionaries like the Collins English Dictionary and American Heritage Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, the word auspicious is an adjective that means favorable or propitious, or having a quality that means success is likely, known as auspice. Many things can be auspicious, including an auspicious occasion, auspicious events, an auspicious election campaign, an auspicious start to a baseball season, an auspicious holiday retreat, a great auspicious beauty, an auspicious incident, auspicious gales, an auspicious number, an auspicious reign and more. In Tibetan Buddhism, the Great Auspicious Beauty refers to one of the Seventeen Tantras of Menngagde. The suffixes ly and ness can be added to the end of the word auspicious to make related words in the form of an adverb and noun – auspiciously (adv.) and auspiciousness (n.) Auspicious is three syllables – aus-pi-cious, and the pronunciation of auspicious is ɔːˈspɪʃəs.

There are many other languages that contain words that mean auspicious. You may notice that many of these words look similar to each other. This is likely because they have a common root or origin. Often, cognates – which are words that look, sound, and mean similar things across languages – are formed when words share a common ancestor, usually in Latin or Greek. This list of translations for the word auspicious is provided by Word Sense.

  •  Russian: благоприя́тный‎
  •  Dutch: gunstig‎
  •  French: propice‎, faste‎
  •  Mandarin: 吉利‎ (jílì), 吉祥‎ (jíxiáng)
  •  Japanese: めでたい‎ (medetai), 喜ばしい‎ (yorokobashii)
  •  Welsh: ffafrol‎
  •  Nynorsk: gunstig‎
  •  Urdu: شبھ‎ (śubh)
  •  Spanish: prometedor‎, propicio‎
  •  Ancient Greek: αἴσιος‎
  •  Catalan: propici‎ (masc.), propícia‎ (fem.), favorable‎ (masc.) (fem.)
  •  Swedish: lovande‎, lyckobådande‎, gynnsam‎
  •  German: günstig‎, vielversprechend‎, verheißungsvoll‎, glückverheißend‎
  •  Finnish: lupaava‎
  •  Bokmål: gunstig‎
  •  Portuguese: promissor‎
  •  Irish: dea-thuarúil‎
  •  Hindi: शुभ‎ (śubh)
  •  Czech: slibný‎ (masc.), nadějný‎ (masc.)

How can the word auspicious be used in a sentence?

The word auspicious can be used in different sentences. Using a new word in a sentence is a great way to memorize its meaning. Try using this word of the day in a sentence today so that you can remember its definition and continue to use it in your everyday speech. Below are many examples of auspicious. 

The New Jerusalem music playing at the start of an event was auspicious for ASCAP. Joshua Stamper saw the people enjoying the tunes and knew they would be a success.

When she saw her auspicious number five times that day, she knew she would soon be receiving good luck and prosperity as tokens of a favorable issue. She was worried about her admission application to Princeton University back in November, and the results were set to come out today.

The Tokyo Giants had a number of good wins and unique qualities that gave them an auspicious start to the season and extraordinary value. During last night’s programme, they won by a landslide.

At Hindu weddings, the Brahmin priests consult the stars to see if the couple will have an auspicious start. In Thai culture, The Auspicious Incident refers to a specific event in the history of the Ottoman Empire.

On the fourth day of the eighty-ninth moon of your majesty’s auspicious reign, I cleared my consciences and vowed to fight for thy liberties above the augurs of Ancient Rome.

What are synonyms and antonyms for the word auspicious?

There are numerous different words that can be used in place of the word auspicious. These are called synonyms, which are words and phrases that have the same meaning as another word or phrase. Synonyms are useful to know if you are looking to expand your vocabulary or if you are trying to avoid repeating the same word multiple times. This list of synonyms for the word auspicious is provided by Power Thesaurus

  •  supportive
  •  encouraging
  •  brighter
  •  everything going
  •  appropriate
  •  in luck
  •  upbeat
  •  timeous
  •  beamish
  •  convenient
  •  cheerful
  •  benevolent
  •  correct
  •  right
  •  benign
  •  conducive
  •  accidental
  •  felicitous
  •  towardly
  •  augural
  •  promising
  •  gratifying
  •  expedient
  •  getting a break
  •  well-off
  •  fitting
  •  fair
  •  lucky
  •  fluky
  •  coming up roses
  •  dexter
  •  positive
  •  beneficent
  •  timely
  •  seasonable
  •  fit
  •  up and coming
  •  hopeful
  •  happy
  •  prophetic
  •  beautiful
  •  friendly
  •  in the gravy
  •  proper
  •  halcyon
  •  helpful
  •  blessed
  •  charmed
  •  brightest
  •  useful
  •  for the best
  •  fortuitous
  •  roseate
  •  good omen
  •  ripe
  •  oracular
  •  befitting
  •  sunny
  •  bright
  •  beneficial
  •  heaven-sent
  •  profitable
  •  apt
  •  suitable
  •  rose-colored
  •  opportune
  •  prescient
  •  serendipitous
  •  optimistic
  •  full of promise
  •  good
  •  welcome
  •  striking it rich
  •  providential
  •  holding aces
  •  favorable
  •  on a streak
  •  heartening
  •  into something
  •  enjoy
  •  exhibitory
  •  agreeable
  •  prosperous
  •  favourable
  •  golden
  •  propitious
  •  favoured
  •  riper
  •  get a break
  •  advantageous
  •  chance
  •  pleasing
  •  born with a silver spoon
  •  rosy
  •  fortunate
  •  favored
  •  cheering
  •  successful
  •  well-timed
  •  reassuring

There are also numerous different words that have the opposite meaning as the word auspicious. These opposite words  are called antonyms. Antonyms are also a useful tool in expanding one’s English language vocabulary. This list of antonyms for the word auspicious is also provided by Power Thesaurus

  •  unlucky
  •  grim
  •  depressing
  •  incongruous
  •  inapposite
  •  badly chosen
  •  dim
  •  portentous
  •  ill-equipped
  •  unfortunate
  •  futureless
  •  inopportune
  •  inauspicious
  •  heart-wrenching
  •  black
  •  ill-disposed
  •  disagreeable
  •  disheartening
  •  fateful
  •  improper
  •  hostile
  •  unhappy
  •  downbeat
  •  desperate
  •  feller
  •  not good enough
  •  unfitting
  •  comfortless
  •  ill-boding
  •  menacing
  •  unfriendly
  •  dubious
  •  unfavorable
  •  aggro
  •  doomy
  •  unbecoming
  •  malapropos
  •  bearish
  •  bad
  •  funereal
  •  incorrect
  •  be of no value
  •  ugly
  •  down and out
  •  glum
  •  disastrous
  •  ominous
  •  catty
  •  blue
  •  ill-suited
  •  bleak
  •  unpropitious
  •  disinclined
  •  gloomy
  •  inappropriate
  •  ill
  •  indecorous
  •  doubtful
  •  be worthless
  •  ass out
  •  wretched
  •  agro
  •  sinister
  •  gone to the dogs
  •  dreary
  •  dire
  •  unsuitable
  •  miserable
  •  baneful
  •  depressive
  •  gray
  •  calamitous
  •  infelicitous
  •  forbidding
  •  unpromising
  •  adverse
  •  threatening
  •  grouchy
  •  direful
  •  wrong
  •  baleful
  •  extraneous
  •  inapt
  •  angry
  •  arsey
  •  cheerless
  •  discouraging
  •  hopeless
  •  not good
  •  catastrophic
  •  unacceptable
  •  unsuited
  •  dismal
  •  bougie
  •  pessimistic
  •  extremely cold
  •  fatal
  •  agitating
  •  unseemly
  •  antagonistic

What is the origin of the word auspicious?

According to Etymonline, the word auspicious has been used since the late c16 to mean of good open. This word comes from the Latin auspicium, a noun which refers to divination performed by observing the flight of birds. This comes from the word auspex, the genitive auspicis, which refers to a person who interprets omens given by birds. This comes from Proto-Indo-European roots, namely awi-spek and the Greek oionos.

Overall, the word auspicious means having favorable conditions. Something that is auspicious may have a happy outcome, come at a propitious time, have favorable weather conditions, favorable circumstances, the promise of success, signs of a favorable outcome, and more. 

Sources:

  1. Auspicious definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary 
  2. auspicious: meaning, origin, translation | Word Sense 
  3. Auspicious synonyms – 645 Words and Phrases for Auspicious | Power Thesaurus 
  4. Auspicious antonyms – 334 Opposites of Auspicious | Power Thesaurus 
  5. auspicious | Origin and meaning of auspicious | Online Etymology Dictionary