ambition
Americannoun
-
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.
- Synonyms:
- longing, yearning, aspiration
-
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.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
strong desire for success, achievement, or distinction
-
something so desired; goal; aim
Other Word Forms
- ambitionless adjective
- ambitionlessly adverb
- preambition noun
- superambition noun
Etymology
Origin of ambition
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English ambicio(u)n, from Middle French or directly from Latin ambitiōn- (stem of ambitiō ), equivalent to amb- ambi- + -i- “go” + -t- past participle suffix + -iōn- -ion
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.
The scale of its manufacturing capacity, its move up the value chain, and its state-backed technological ambitions have eroded America’s confidence.
From Barron's
That success is pushing their makers toward a bigger ambition: automating our entire lives.
With Epstein, their societal ambitions were so urgent they failed to be discerning.
His book’s first chapter is aptly called “Advantages,” since coming from nothing gave him an outsider’s perspective—and fierce ambition.
The governor said he hasn’t “gotten in the way of her ambition ever,” and he doesn’t imagine that he would in the future.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
