Meaning & use
favorable
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Showing approval or support, or expressing a good opinion of someone or something.
Grammar: Describes opinions and reactions: a favorable review.
Patterns
- favorable to someone
- favorable toward something
The film received favorable reviews from nearly every critic.
The manager made a favorable impression on the board.
Voters were generally favorable to the new park.
adjectivecomparable
Likely to help things go well, because conditions suit what you want to do.
Grammar: Describes conditions or circumstances: favorable weather; often followed by for or to.
Patterns
- favorable for something
- favorable to something
Favorable winds helped the sailboats finish early.
The market was favorable for new businesses.
The terms of the loan were favorable to small farmers.
Word forms
| comparative | more favorable |
|---|---|
| superlative | most favorable |
Common combinations
- favorable conditions
- Favorable conditions allowed the crops to grow quickly.
- favorable response
- The proposal drew a favorable response from residents.
- favorable terms
- The bank offered favorable terms on the mortgage.
- favorable impression
- She wanted to make a favorable impression at the interview.
- view favorably
- The committee viewed the plan favorably.
Synonyms and how they differ
- positive
- Positive is the common everyday word for a good response, while favorable sounds more formal and often describes opinions or conditions.
- advantageous
- Advantageous stresses giving an edge or benefit, and is used for circumstances rather than opinions.
- auspicious
- Auspicious suggests signs of future success and sounds more ceremonial than favorable.
- encouraging
- Encouraging suggests results that give hope, but not necessarily approval.
Opposites
Word family
- favor noun
- an act of kindness, or approval
- favorably adverb
- in a positive or helpful way
- unfavorable adjective
- not good or not approving
- favorite adjective
- liked more than others
Commonly confused: favorable or favorite?
favorable vs favorite
Favorite means liked best; favorable means approving or helpful.
Practice
Which phrase best completes the sentence: The weather forecast was ____ for the outdoor concert.
Choose one answer.
Favorable means helpful or promising, which fits conditions for an event. Favorite means liked best and cannot describe a forecast this way.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “favorable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.