promising

IPA/ˈprɒmɪsɪŋ/
KK[prˈɑməsɪŋ]IPA/ˈprɑːmɪsɪŋ/

promising — adjective

  • promisingpositive
  • more promisingcomparative
  • most promisingsuperlative

1. giving good reasons to believe that someone or something will be successful, enj

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

giving good reasons to believe that someone or something will be successful, enjoyable, or useful in the future

Example

Baraka is a promising young musician who recently won his first national competition.

promising + [role]: typical attributive use describing a person

The results of the medical trial are promising, with most patients showing clear improvement.

promising results — common collocation in predicative use

Common collocations
  • promising start
  • promising sign
  • promising result
  • promising future
  • promising career
  • promising young athlete / musician / writer
  • look promising
  • sound promising
  • seem promising
Synonyms
  • hopeful

    more about a person's feeling of optimism; 'promising' focuses on observable signs

  • encouraging

    suggests active support or a boost to morale; 'promising' is more neutral about the outcome

  • bright

    informal, used mainly with 'future' or 'prospects'; less common with people

  • favorable

    describes conditions or circumstances rather than inherent qualities

Antonyms
  • unpromising

    direct opposite — lacking signs of future success

  • discouraging

    opposite in effect — causes someone to lose confidence or hope

Grammar Patterns

promising + noun

be/look/sound/seem + promising

Usage Note

Frequently paired with nouns such as start, sign, result, future, or career. Also used predicatively after verbs like look, sound, and seem. Unlike hopeful, which focuses on a person's feelings, promising emphasises visible evidence or outward signs of future success.

Common Mistakes

The promised young musician gave a great concert.
The promising young musician gave a great concert.
'promised' means something has been guaranteed; 'promising' means showing potential for future success.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Promising is the most neutral and broadly applicable word among these, describing anything that shows visible signs of future success — a person, a test result, a weather forecast, or a career. Hopeful leans toward the emotional response of the speaker ('I feel hopeful about the job interview'), while promising points to evidence beyond one's feelings. Encouraging adds an emotional boost: an encouraging remark gives you confidence, whereas a promising result simply indicates potential. Bright is informal and almost always pairs with future, outlook, or prospects ('a bright future ahead'). Favorable is about external conditions working in someone's favour ('favorable market conditions'), not about the qualities of a person or thing. For a young athlete with talent and discipline, say 'promising young player'; for a piece of news that lifts your mood, say 'encouraging news'; for a situation where everything aligns for success, say 'favorable conditions.'

hopeful ↗encouraging ↗bright ↗favorable ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • highly promising
  • very promising
  • especially promising
  • particularly promising

Phrases

  • show promising signs
  • look promising
  • sound promising
  • seem promising
  • a promising future

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

The adjective 'promising' was formed in English around the early 1600s by adding the -ing suffix to the noun 'promise' (from Latin 'promissum', meaning 'a declaration about the future'). The original idea was 'full of promise' — something that carries a sense of good things to come. This is different from the present participle of the verb 'to promise', although the two forms look identical.