| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
| |
| favorable |
| |
| SYLLABICATION: | fa·vor·a·ble |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  f  v r--bl, fvr- |
| ADJECTIVE: | 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. Manifesting approval; commendatory: a favorable report. 4. Winning approval; pleasing: a favorable impression. 5. Granting what has been desired or requested: a favorable reply. 6. Indulgent or partial: listened with a favorable ear. | | OTHER FORMS: | favor·a·ble·ness —NOUN
favor·a·bly —ADVERB
| | SYNONYMS: | favorable, propitious, auspicious, benign, conducive These adjectives describe what is indicative of a successful outcome. Favorable can refer to what contributes in a positive way to the attainment of a goal: a favorable review. Propitious implies a favorable tendency or inclination: “Miracles are propitious accidents” (George Santayana). Auspicious refers to what presages good fortune: an auspicious beginning. Benign applies to people or things that exert a beneficial influence: “I lingered round them, under that benign sky . . . and wondered how anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumbers, for the sleepers in that quiet earth” (Emily Brontë). Something conducive leads or contributes to a result, often a desirable one: a quiet place conducive to reading.
| | |
| |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
|
|
