ambitious

American  

[am-bish-uhs] / æmˈbɪʃ əs /

adjective

1. having ambition; eagerly desirous of achieving or obtaining success, power, wealth, a specific goal, etc..

   The school is known for its ambitious students.

   Antonyms:

   lackadaisical, apathetic

2. showing or caused by ambition or an earnest desire for achievement or distinction.

   This season saw an ambitious attempt to break the record for number of wins in a single season.

3. strongly desirous; eager.

   It is common for children to be ambitious of love and approval.

4. requiring exceptional effort, ability, etc..

   The candidate is proposing an ambitious program for eliminating all slums.

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ambitious British  

/ æmˈbɪʃəs /

adjective

1. having a strong desire for success or achievement; wanting power, money, etc

2. necessitating extraordinary effort or ability

   an ambitious project

3. (often foll by of) having a great desire (for something or to do something)

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Related Words

Ambitious, aspiring, enterprising describe a person who wishes to rise above their present position or condition. The ambitious person wishes to attain worldly success, and puts forth effort toward this end: ambitious for social position. The enterprising person, interested especially in wealth, is characterized by energy and daring in undertaking projects. The aspiring person wishes to rise (mentally or spiritually) to a higher level or plane, or to attain some end above ordinary expectations.

Other Word Forms

• ambitiously adverb
• ambitiousness noun
• nonambitious adjective
• nonambitiously adverb
• nonambitiousness noun
• overambitious adjective
• overambitiously adverb
• overambitiousness noun
• unambitious adjective
• unambitiously adverb
• unambitiousness noun

Etymology

Origin of ambitious

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin ambitiōsus, equivalent to ambiti(ō) ambition + -ōsus -ous

Explanation

Ambitious means wanting to succeed. If you want to climb Mount Everest, start your own business, and write a great philosophical treatise all before you are 30, then wow, you are really ambitious. Having an ambition is a good thing, like wanting to get good grades, or to become a doctor. But if we say someone is ambitious, often we mean they have too much ambition. An ambitious politician might want power so badly that he’ll abandon his ideals in order to win a race. If you hatch a business plan and someone tells you it’s too ambitious, that means you’re probably not being reasonable about how much you can get done.

Example Sentences

In the final days of the NBA regular season, basketball’s most ambitious franchises were going all-out in pursuit of the sport’s most sought-after spots.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

In addition to the hype around SpaceX, the industry is benefiting from the successful completion of the most ambitious human spaceflight in decades.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026

And if Nasa achieves its ambitious exploration plans - and other countries follow too - we'll all be back for more.

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026

The more pertinent concern now, Moskowitz argued, is the company’s ability to execute its ambitious infrastructure buildout while overcoming financing and profitability hurdles.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

Some said that he was ambitious and might want to run for statewide office someday.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Related Words

• arduous
• bold
• challenging
• demanding
• difficult
• energetic
• grandiose
• impressive
• visionary