aspirational

[ as-puh-rey-shuh-nl ]

adjective

1. relating to or characterized by aspiration or a strong desire for something:

   their aspirational goals for the New Year.

2. aimed at or appealing to people who want to attain a higher social position or standard of living:

   a magazine featuring aspirational products for the home.

3. Medicine/Medical. relating to the act of removing a fluid from a body cavity or of inhaling a fluid into the lungs.
4. Phonetics. relating to articulation involving an audible puff of breath.

Word History and Origins

Origin of aspirational¹

aspiration + -al ¹

Example Sentences

They were all fledgling quarterbacks in some way when James became an aspirational figure with how he reimagined a superstar’s role in team building.

From Washington Post

No shade to anyone who happily binged through it in a lockdown haze, but that show was pure, aspirational fluff.

From Time

Worth noting that the polling was completed before her surprising announcement last Thursday, which she shared with members of Fortune’s CEO Initiative, that GM has set an “aspirational goal” of eliminating all tail pipe emissions by 2035.

From Fortune

Among the numerous subspecies he skewers are the loiterer, conspiracy theorist, bearded pensioner, occultist and aspirational parent.

From Washington Post

We are trying to separate the aspirational from the intentional.

From Washington Post

This does not really address the aspirational reasons why so many Americans have been migrating to this region.

From The Daily Beast

Collectively, these young women are making entrepreneurship not just aspirational, but a little bit edgy.

From The Daily Beast

Mattel successfully marketed them with jingles copping to the aspirational nature of their use.

From The Daily Beast

Nowadays, the SEIU and other groups seem to see flipping burgers as positively aspirational.

From The Daily Beast

Everywhere online, users are posting aspirational pictures of thigh gaps, used as inspiration for weight loss and dieting.

From The Daily Beast

Is not our horrible competitive civilization at last going to choke all aspirational life into silence?

From Project Gutenberg

His infatuation is known as el howa el'adhry (pure, or aspirational love).

From Project Gutenberg

Can there possibly be friendships where there is no aspirational life?

From Project Gutenberg