Heartening is what we call news, a result, or someone’s words when they make you feel happier and more hopeful. You will meet it most as an adjective: heartening news, a heartening result, it is heartening to see…. It is the -ing form of hearten, ‘to give someone more heart,’ in the old English sense of courage and hope, not the organ in your chest. Though actually, in everyday talk people often say encouraging instead. Heartening is a little more like careful speech or writing, and it leans on the feeling of hope, not only ‘this is a good sign.’ A friend might say That makes me feel better; a teacher or a newspaper might say The turnout was heartening. It is a warm word, not a technical one, and it is about a lift in spirit, not about making someone laugh.