ambitious

[am-bish-uhs]

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.

ambitious

/ 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)

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of ambitious¹

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

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

The biggest cut was $1.2 billion for California’s ambitious project to develop clean hydrogen known as the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems, or ARCHES.

From Los Angeles Times

"They are so hungry to succeed, and so ambitious, and of course we want to keep them pushing, and it is really easy to keep the focus high," said Glasner.

From BBC

The company's board also said Musk could receive a pay package worth over $1tn if he hits a list of ambitious targets over the next decade.

From BBC

You can absolutely make your own — I love this King Arthur recipe, if you’re feeling ambitious — but in the immortal words of Ina, store-bought really is fine here.

From Salon

The memorial is an ambitious project, incorporating a proposal for a physical and digital presence.

From BBC

Related Words

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