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 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
“Salesforce reports at an auspicious time for the software sector after it and other software stocks got slammed earlier this month by concerns about AI competition,” Mazzola said.
From Barron's • Feb. 23, 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
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
“It is an auspicious color,” Tsukiko comments, but she refuses to elaborate on her meaning.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.