ambitious
Americanadjective
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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
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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.
-
strongly desirous; eager.
It is common for children to be ambitious of love and approval.
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requiring exceptional effort, ability, etc..
The candidate is proposing an ambitious program for eliminating all slums.
adjective
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having a strong desire for success or achievement; wanting power, money, etc
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necessitating extraordinary effort or ability
an ambitious project
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(often foll by of) having a great desire (for something or to do something)
Synonym Usage
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
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.
Vocabulary lists containing ambitious
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 4
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In fact, it’s so in love with its flawed protagonist that it can’t see he’s the least compelling character in the movie, an ambitious, arrogant, grasping, unscrupulous man we’ve met countless times before.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
The plans were ambitious: a shortlist with more than 20 players on it.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
“Vision 2030 was already a bit on the rocks, and they were already changing their priorities,” said Quilliam, referring to the ambitious economic and social change effort.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
My daughter's old maths teacher, Mr Fields, is an Ipswich fan and he is very excited about how ambitious the club has been since getting promoted.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
“We have never gotten along, my brother and I. He has always been too ambitious for that. And yet I had hoped…” He waves his hand around, dismissing whatever he was about to say.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
