encouraging

encouraging
    adj 1: giving courage or confidence or hope; "encouraging
           advances in medical research" [ant: {discouraging}]
    2: furnishing support and encouragement; "the anxious child
       needs supporting and accepting treatment from the teacher"
       [syn: {encouraging}, {supporting}]
    

Encouraging \En*cour"a*ging\, a.
   Furnishing ground to hope; inspiriting; favoring. --
   {En*cour"a*ging*ly}, adv.
   [1913 Webster]
    

Encourage \En*cour"age\ (?; 48), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
   {Encouraged} (?; 48); p. pr. & vb. n. {Encouraging}.] [F.
   encourager; pref. en- (L. in) + courage courage. See
   {Courage}.]
   To give courage to; to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope;
   to raise, or to increase, the confidence of; to animate;
   enhearten; to incite; to help forward; -- the opposite of
   {discourage}.
   [1913 Webster]

         David encouraged himself in the Lord.    --1 Sam. xxx.
                                                  6.

   Syn: To embolden; inspirit; animate; enhearten; hearten;
        incite; cheer; urge; impel; stimulate; instigate;
        countenance; comfort; promote; advance; forward;
        strengthen.
        [1913 Webster]
    

57 Moby Thesaurus words for "encouraging":
      alluring, animating, assuring, auspicious, bright with promise,
      challenging, cheerful, cheering, cheery, comforting, condolatory,
      condolent, condoling, consolatory, consoling, couleur de rose,
      energizing, enlivening, exciting, exhilarating, favorable,
      full of promise, galvanic, galvanizing, glad, gladdening,
      heart-warming, heartening, hospitable, inspiring, inspiriting,
      invigorating, inviting, joyful, likely, looking up,
      of good comfort, of promise, piquant, pregnant of good, promising,
      prompting, propitious, provocative, provoking, reassuring,
      relieving, rose-colored, roseate, rosy, rousing, stimulant,
      stimulating, stimulative, stirring, supportive, sympathetic