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.
But the current Draco obsession stems from the transliteration of his surname, "Ma Er Fu", which contains the Chinese characters for "horse" and "good fortune" -- an auspicious omen for the year ahead.
From Barron's • Feb. 5, 2026
“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
It contains the words for horse and fortune, ringing especially auspicious for the upcoming Year of the Horse.
From BBC • Feb. 4, 2026
This was an auspicious start, but over the next eight years, she never reached those heights again as a lead artist.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 2, 2026
There were, indeed, many reasons to have auspicious hopes for the marriage.
From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
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.
