felicitous
adjective
Did you know?
The adjective felicitous has been a part of our language since the late 18th century, but felicity, the noun meaning "great happiness," and later, "aptness," was around even in Middle English (as felicite, a borrowing from Anglo-French). Both words ultimately derive from the Latin adjective felix, meaning "fruitful" or "happy." The connection between happy and felicitous continues today in that both words can mean "notably fitting, effective, or well adapted." Happy typically suggests what is effectively or successfully appropriate (as in "a happy choice of words"), and felicitous often implies an aptness that is opportune, telling, or graceful (as in "a felicitous phrase").
Synonyms
- agreeable
- blessed
- blest
- congenial
- darling
- delectable
- delicious
- delightful
- delightsome
- dreamy
- dulcet
- enjoyable
- good
- grateful
- gratifying
- heavenly
- jolly
- luscious
- nice
- palatable
- pleasant
- pleasing
- pleasurable
- pretty
- satisfying
- savory
- savoury
- sweet
- tasty
- welcome
Example Sentences
Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2022 Notable dancers such as Ms. Mearns, Ms. Peck, Mr. Gordon and Mira Nadon are scheduled to make their debuts in this felicitous choreographic suite. Robert Greskovic, WSJ, 16 May 2022 Willie Fulgear, the salvage man who found the 52, got a reward, much felicitous publicity, and a limo and tickets to attend the Oscars, where Billy Crystal saluted him from the stage. Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2022 For Amy Zurek, naming her brand ‘Savette’ after her mother’s maiden name was a felicitous decision. Monica Mendal, Vogue, 24 Nov. 2021 Its felicitous mix of precise, classical ballet moves and more playfully inventive ones rewardingly holds the interest of its cast of four men and four women, and along its way engages the viewer. Robert Greskovic, WSJ, 18 May 2021 The prose is wonderfully sober and taut, the choices felicitous. James Romm, WSJ, 26 Apr. 2021 The effect, according to the article, was felicitous. Emily Langer, Washington Post, 20 Mar. 2021 His prose is prose, definitively prose, anti-felicitous and slightly barbarous. James Parker, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2021 See More Word History
1789, in the meaning defined at sense 1
felicitous
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- delightful
- pleasant
- delicious
- enjoyable
- pleasing
- sweet
- satisfying
- nice
- good
- heavenly
- congenial
- agreeable
- welcome
- gratifying
- delectable
- pleasurable
- soothing
- amusing
- jolly
- pretty
- tempting
- tasty
- savory
- comforting
- dreamy
- blessed
- palatable
- luscious
- grateful
- charming
- desirable
- darling
- dulcet
- comfortable
- fascinating
- attractive
- happy
- blissful
- entertaining
- savoury
- enviable
- enchanting
- blest
- delightsome
- cheerful
- alluring
- amiable
- joyous
- inviting
- relishable
- genial
- gracious
- calming
- affable
- hospitable
- diverting
- cheery
- goodly
- recreative
- rapturous
- intoxicating
- exhilarating
- good-natured
- personable
- ecstatic
- felicific
- kindly
- euphoric
- elating
- glad
- nirvanic
- gemütlich
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- disagreeable
- unpleasant
- unwelcome
- ghastly
- unsavory
- offensive
- horrid
- abominable
- unpalatable
- repugnant
- wretched
- odious
- repulsive
- miserable
- vile
- hellish
- distasteful
- obnoxious
- bilious
- irksome
- regrettable
- detestable
- disgusting
- tragic
- repellent
- abhorrent
- commonplace
- insipid
- tedious
- flat
- deplorable
- dull
- lamentable
- lugubrious
- boring
- sad
- unhappy
- dismal
- depressing
- gloomy
- hateful
- lachrymose
- disheartening
- dissatisfying
- doleful
- sorrowful
- perturbing
- mournful
- stale
- pleasureless
- dreary
- exasperating
- irritating
- tragical
- revulsive
- vexing
- aggravating
- hostile
- yucky
- repellant
- joyless
- displeasing
- dolorous
- heartbreaking
- heartrending
- annoying
- god-awful
- maddening
- disturbing
- yukky
- distressing
- infuriating
- forbidding
- intimidating
- upsetting
- peeving
- enflaming
- inflaming
- enraging
- riling
- incensing
- rankling
- angering
- outraging
Synonyms & Similar Words
- suitable
- appropriate
- fitting
- proper
- good
- fitted
- fit
- apt
- happy
- pretty
- befitting
- balanced
- in order
- right
- applicable
- adequate
- acceptable
- meet
- satisfactory
- becoming
- decorous
- needed
- deserved
- requisite
- justified
- required
- competent
- condign
- capable
- decent
- qualified
- correct
- harmonious
- serviceable
- able
- just
- cut out
- pitch-perfect
- tolerable
- respectable
- rightful
- kosher
- trained
- congruous
- consonant
- companionate
- seemly
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- improper
- inappropriate
- incongruous
- unsuitable
- unseemly
- wrong
- infelicitous
- unhappy
- inapplicable
- indecent
- unfitting
- unbecoming
- unfit
- inapt
- incapable
- incompetent
- inapposite
- unsatisfactory
- unskilled
- inadequate
- unqualified
- malapropos
- untrained
- inexpert
- unacceptable
- unskillful
- inept
- intolerable
- unapt
- unmeet
- indecorous
- unbeseeming
- incorrect
- incompatible
- misbecoming
- graceless
- uncongenial
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of felicitous are appropriate, apt, fitting, fit, happy, meet, proper, and suitable. While all these words mean "right with respect to some end, need, use, or circumstance," felicitous suggests an aptness that is opportune, telling, or graceful.
While in some cases nearly identical to felicitous, appropriate implies eminent or distinctive fitness.
Although the words apt and felicitous have much in common, apt connotes a fitness marked by nicety and discrimination.
The meanings of fit and felicitous largely overlap; however, fit stresses adaptability and sometimes special readiness for use or action.
In some situations, the words fitting and felicitous are roughly equivalent. However, fitting implies harmony of mood or tone.
While the synonyms happy and felicitous are close in meaning, happy suggests what is effectively or successfully appropriate.
The words meet and felicitous are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, meet suggests a just proportioning.
The synonyms proper and felicitous are sometimes interchangeable, but proper suggests a suitability through essential nature or accordance with custom.
The words suitable and felicitous can be used in similar contexts, but suitable implies an answering to requirements or demands.