ambition
[am-bish-uh n]
- an earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction, as power, honor, fame, or wealth, and the willingness to strive for its attainment: Too much ambition caused him to be disliked by his colleagues.
- the object, state, or result desired or sought after: The crown was his ambition.
- desire for work or activity; energy: I awoke feeling tired and utterly lacking in ambition.
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- to seek after earnestly; aspire to.
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Origin of ambition
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com1. aspiration, yearning, longing. 2. goal, aim. 3. drive, force.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ambition
Contemporary Examples
The other narrative is of mobility in the service of ambition.
Their authors promise that your spirit will be improved, your ambition honed, and your finances maximized by their advice.
And it led him in his teenage years to declare his ambition to become a cop.
Reid planted a flag, ready to make his mark in the world of whisky, backed by ambition and a gorgeous piece of land.
Ester Elchies, The Estate Built By WhiskeyDecember 10, 2014
He made little secret of his ambition to become the next prime minister, much to the chagrin of Netanyahu.
Goodbye to Israel’s Lousy Government (Let’s Hope the Next One Isn’t Worse)Alon Ben-Meir
December 4, 2014
Historical Examples
No ambition, no temptation, lures her to thought of foreign dominions.
She had won her ambition of years, revenge on the man who had sent her to prison.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
But ambition is foreign to the Shakespeare-Hamlet nature, so the poet does not employ it.
The Man ShakespeareFrank Harris
It was once my ambition to visit one by one every noteworthy spot in France.
The Roof of FranceMatilda Betham-Edwards
The first was addressed to the fears of the Athenians, the second to their ambition.
Stories from ThucydidesH. L. Havell
ambition
- strong desire for success, achievement, or distinction
- something so desired; goal; aim
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French, from Latin ambitiō a going round (of candidates), a striving to please, from ambīre to go round; see ambit
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for ambition
n.
mid-14c., from Middle French ambition or directly from Latin ambitionem (nominative ambitio) "a going around," especially to solicit votes, hence "a striving for favor, courting, flattery; a desire for honor, thirst for popularity," noun of action from past participle stem of ambire "to go around" (see ambient).
Rarely used in the literal sense in English, where it carries the secondary Latin sense of "eager or inordinate desire of honor or preferment." In early use always pejorative, of inordinate or overreaching desire; ambition was grouped with pride and vainglory.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper