Meaning & use
propitious
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparableformal
Giving good reason to expect success, because conditions or timing are favorable.
Grammar: Often followed by for or to: a propitious moment for a launch.
Patterns
- propitious for something
- propitious to something
The calm weather was propitious for the boat race.
She waited for a propitious moment to ask for a raise.
The economy looked propitious for new businesses.
adjectivecomparableliteraryold-fashioned
Kind or well disposed toward someone, as a god or fate might be.
Grammar: Literary and old-fashioned in this sense: a propitious deity.
Patterns
- propitious to someone
The sailors prayed for a propitious wind.
The old story describes a propitious spirit who guarded the village.
He read the stars for propitious signs before the journey.
Word forms
| comparative | more propitious |
|---|---|
| superlative | most propitious |
Common combinations
- propitious moment
- A propitious moment came when the manager smiled.
- propitious time
- This is not a propitious time to invest.
- propitious circumstances
- The launch took place in propitious circumstances.
- propitious omen
- The first sunny day was seen as a propitious omen.
- propitious start
- The season got off to a propitious start.
Synonyms and how they differ
- auspicious
- Auspicious is very close and suggests a good sign for the future, while propitious suggests conditions that actually help.
- favorable
- Favorable is the everyday word, and propitious is a more formal choice for timing or luck.
- opportune
- Opportune means happening at exactly the right time, while propitious is broader and covers general conditions.
- promising
- Promising suggests signs of future success, whereas propitious emphasizes the setting being right.
Opposites
Word family
- propitiously adverb
- in a favorable or well-timed way
- propitiousness noun
- the quality of being favorable
- propitiate verb
- to win the goodwill of someone angry, often with a gift
- propitiation noun
- the act of winning favor or calming anger
Commonly confused: propitious or auspicious?
propitious vs auspicious
Auspicious points to signs of good luck, as with an auspicious start. Propitious points to conditions that help, as with propitious weather.
Practice
The investors decided the market was not ___ for launching an expensive new product.
Choose one answer.
Propitious for means favorable for, matching the idea that conditions are not right. Prosperous describes wealth, not conditions for an action, and prolific and proportionate do not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “propitious”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.