enterprising
Americanadjective
-
ready to undertake projects of importance or difficulty, or untried schemes; energetic in carrying out any undertaking.
Business is in need of enterprising young people.
- Synonyms:
- adventurous, resourceful, venturesome, venturous
-
characterized by great imagination or initiative.
an enterprising foreign policy.
adjective
Related Words
See ambitious.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of enterprising
First recorded in 1565–75; enterprise + -ing 2
Explanation
If you are enterprising, you are creative and show initiative. Were you the kid who bought candy before school and sold it during school at a profit? If so, you were an enterprising little one. Though it has the word, enterprise, in it and is often used to describe people who set up businesses to fill a need, enterprising can be used for any kind of display of creative initiative. Kids who decide on their own to build a skate park are enterprising, as is a dance company that is able to perform a piece on a shoestring budget.
Vocabulary lists containing enterprising
"Earth (A Gift Shop)," Vocabulary from the short story
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"
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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.
Enterprising thieves looked elsewhere when COVID-19 money largely dried up.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 7, 2026
Enterprising locals had found a way to connect to the service by using regional roaming packages purchased in countries where the service was available.
From BBC • Apr. 16, 2025
Hamilton, formerly a postdoctoral researcher in Doudna's lab, is further developing this delivery method as a fellow in the IGI's Women in Enterprising Science program.
From Science Daily • Jan. 31, 2024
Enterprising locals offered guides and porters set up campsites and sold supplies to migrants, using color-coded wristbands to track who had paid for what.
From Washington Times • Dec. 17, 2023
Enterprising young men, inured to the bush, were requested to attach themselves to the small military parties at the out stations, and, under military officers, to scour the northern country.
From The History of Tasmania , Volume II by West, John
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.
