Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb promise

4 senses of promise

Sense 1
promise, assure -- (make a promise or commitment)
       => declare -- (state emphatically and authoritatively; "He declared that he needed more money to carry out the task he was charged with")

Sense 2
promise -- (promise to undertake or give; "I promise you my best effort")
       => declare -- (state emphatically and authoritatively; "He declared that he needed more money to carry out the task he was charged with")

Sense 3
predict, foretell, prognosticate, call, forebode, anticipate, promise -- (make a prediction about; tell in advance; "Call the outcome of an election")
       => guess, venture, pretend, hazard -- (put forward, of a guess, in spite of possible refutation; "I am guessing that the price of real estate will rise again"; "I cannot pretend to say that you are wrong")

Sense 4
promise -- (give grounds for expectations; "The new results were promising"; "The results promised fame and glory")
       => be -- (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun); "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer")

Antonyms of adj promising

2 senses of promising

Sense 1
promising -- (showing possibility of achievement or excellence; "a promising young man")

INDIRECT (VIA likely) -> unlikely -- (has little chance of being the case or coming about; "an unlikely story"; "an unlikely candidate for reelection"; "a butcher is unlikely to preach vegetarianism")

Sense 2
bright, hopeful, promising -- (full or promise; "had a bright future in publishing"; "the scandal threatened an abrupt end to a promising political career"; "a hopeful new singer on Broadway")

INDIRECT (VIA auspicious) -> inauspicious, unfortunate -- (not auspicious; boding ill)

Similarity of adj promising

2 senses of promising

Sense 1
promising -- (showing possibility of achievement or excellence; "a promising young man")
       => likely (vs. unlikely) -- (has a good chance of being the case or of coming about; "these services are likely to be available to us all before long"; "she is likely to forget"; "a likely place for a restaurant"; "the broken limb is likely to fall"; "rain is likely"; "a likely topic for investigation"; "likely candidates for the job")

Sense 2
bright, hopeful, promising -- (full or promise; "had a bright future in publishing"; "the scandal threatened an abrupt end to a promising political career"; "a hopeful new singer on Broadway")
       => auspicious (vs. inauspicious) -- (auguring favorable circumstances and good luck; "an auspicious beginning for the campaign")