1
as in pleasant
giving pleasure or contentment to the mind or senses a felicitous accompaniment to dinner is provided by a pianist on weekends at the restaurant

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective felicitous differ from other similar words?

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.

a felicitous phrase

When is appropriate a more appropriate choice than felicitous?

While in some cases nearly identical to felicitous, appropriate implies eminent or distinctive fitness.

an appropriate gift

When might apt be a better fit than felicitous?

Although the words apt and felicitous have much in common, apt connotes a fitness marked by nicety and discrimination.

apt quotations

When would fit be a good substitute for felicitous?

The meanings of fit and felicitous largely overlap; however, fit stresses adaptability and sometimes special readiness for use or action.

fit for battle

When could fitting be used to replace felicitous?

In some situations, the words fitting and felicitous are roughly equivalent. However, fitting implies harmony of mood or tone.

a fitting end

Where would happy be a reasonable alternative to felicitous?

While the synonyms happy and felicitous are close in meaning, happy suggests what is effectively or successfully appropriate.

a happy choice of words

When is it sensible to use meet instead of felicitous?

The words meet and felicitous are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, meet suggests a just proportioning.

meet payment

When can proper be used instead of felicitous?

The synonyms proper and felicitous are sometimes interchangeable, but proper suggests a suitability through essential nature or accordance with custom.

proper acknowledgement

In what contexts can suitable take the place of felicitous?

The words suitable and felicitous can be used in similar contexts, but suitable implies an answering to requirements or demands.

clothes suitable for camping

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of felicitous Pebble Beach was not a felicitous meeting of land and sea. Doug Ferguson, USA TODAY, 5 Feb. 2024 That breadth is a felicitous analog to the roaming comedy of the script. Scott Hocker, theweek, 5 Jan. 2024 Ellis-Bextor now joins Kate Bush in the league of criminally underrated British singers who have received a late-career reappraisal thanks to a felicitous TV or film sync. Vulture, 11 Jan. 2024 A couple of bright, shining hours can endow a day with a felicitous look and feel. Martin Weil, Washington Post, 23 Dec. 2023 See All Example Sentences for felicitous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for felicitous
Adjective
  • The 25-year-old is always pleasant and wearing a big smile.
    Jeff Zrebiec, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2025
  • Having visited the dome myself, the clearest impression that stays with me is how Hiroshima isn’t just surprisingly pleasant, but beautiful.
    Ed Simon August 18, Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Spectrum's plans are suitable for households needing reliable speeds for multiple users.
    Roxanne Downer, USA Today, 23 Aug. 2025
  • The parole board uses these risk ratings as one of many tools when determining whether someone is suitable for release.
    Amanda Castro Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Elizabeth and Joyce make for a delightful black-cat, golden-retriever pair, and Ron and Ibrahim bring about hilarious shenanigans of their own.
    Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 30 Aug. 2025
  • Today, things are a bit different, and while the heyday of British sports cars may be behind us, the TR3 remains one of the most delightful, fun-to-drive machines around.
    Robert Ross, Robb Report, 29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Keep your gripes within private conversations with colleagues, the bar association or the court, as appropriate.
    Peter Boyd, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
  • From developing a project's financial structure to securing appropriate permits and zoning permissions to actual site construction, developers face a potentially long road to realizing their projects.
    Leo Bertucci, The Courier-Journal, 22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • This leads us back to the Tall as a Tree and Twice as Shady, a drink on the opening menu of Three Dots and a Dash that’s as good an example as any of McGee’s tiki sensibilities—unexpected and delicious, creative and precise.
    Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 23 Aug. 2025
  • These copycat Auntie Anne’s style soft pretzels are fresh, buttery, and just as delicious—minus the mall lines.
    Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • That classical setting was a fitting way to remember the stoic Sandberg, whose name is forever etched into the city’s history as an iconic figure for the Chicago Cubs.
    Patrick Mooney, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2025
  • Going through a fitting process with multiple muslins and draping on her body showed Jenelle how Mackie is a true genius at his craft.
    Shelby Wax, Vogue, 22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Building a proper football ecosystem benefits the wider Saudi aim of diversifying away from oil.
    Mavis Mook, CNBC, 30 Aug. 2025
  • Ashley Meehan, who is a part of the council's Homeless Mortality Working Group, said people without shelter often do not get proper warnings about extreme weather.
    Gina Lee Castro, jsonline.com, 30 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Since judging the beauty of art is subjective, identifying the most aesthetically pleasing sculptures is difficult, Chidester said, but there are pieces in the collection that have drawn praise from the community.
    Lou Ponsi, Oc Register, 12 Aug. 2025
  • None of this is pleasing to a country that has fought bitter wars with Pakistan, and whose officials have over the past two decades assiduously invested to elevate Indo-U.S. relations to a higher plane.
    Salil Tripathi, Time, 8 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Felicitous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/felicitous. Accessed 3 Sep. 2025.

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