Meaning & use
promising
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivecomparableapproving
Giving good reason to expect that someone or something will do well or turn out successfully.
Grammar: Works before a noun or after be: a promising start, the results look promising.
Patterns
- promising start
- look promising
- a promising future
The young goalkeeper looks very promising.
The early test results are promising, but more trials are needed.
She had a promising career in medicine ahead of her.
Word forms
| comparative | more promising |
|---|---|
| superlative | most promising |
Common combinations
- promising start
- The season got off to a promising start.
- promising young
- He is a promising young violinist.
- look promising
- The weather looks promising for the picnic.
- promising sign
- Rising sales are a promising sign.
- promising results
- The drug trial produced promising results.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hopeful
- Hopeful can describe a person's feelings as well, whereas promising describes things or people showing signs of success.
- encouraging
- Encouraging stresses how a sign makes observers feel, while promising points to future success itself.
- auspicious
- Auspicious is formal and used for omens or occasions, but promising is more everyday.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: promising or promissory?
promising vs promissory
Promissory is a legal term for a written promise to pay, as in promissory note; it does not mean showing potential.
Practice
The coach said the new striker was a ___ player who might become a star in a few years.
Choose one answer.
Promising is the adjective meaning showing signs of future success. Promised would mean something pledged beforehand, which does not describe talent.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “promising”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.