ambition
Americannoun
-
ambitions
plural
-
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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
Explanation
Ambition is a strong desire to achieve. It's what Macbeth had too much of, and what slackers have too little of. If a person has ambition, the goal is usually wealth, power, or fame. This Middle English word is derived from Latin ambitiō, from ambīre "to go around or about." In ancient Rome, candidates for office would go around to gain votes, to further their goal of being powerful or famous.
Vocabulary lists containing ambition
Nothing But the Truth
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Stargirl
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"The Latehomecomer," Vocabulary from the memoir excerpt
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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.
See Examples For:
"It's a brilliantly written human story about power, control, ambition and greed that might be the most urgently relevant film of our time," Neglia said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2026
When I talk about wanting more, I'm talking about the ambition we must all have as part of this club.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
The Greeks organized civic life around “contest, ambition, competition,” he added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
In recent years, headlines about the country focused on the scale of its ambition, or the fantastical giga-projects girding Vision 2030, the full-steam-ahead drive to remake the kingdom into a business and entertainment powerhouse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Don't ask me how, but eventually Edith discovered my shhhhhh ambition and from then on, sometimes, we would talk.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
On September 28, SpaceX's Starship megarocket reached orbit for the first time and deployed 26 Starlink satellites before splashing down in the Pacific -- a milestone for the rocket central to Musk's Mars ambitions.
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2026
But Wembley is just the beginning of their ambitions.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
But they had an appealingly limited set of ambitions.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026
Recognizing its importance to Germany's nuclear ambitions, Allied forces targeted the plant through sabotage and bombing operations.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
“On the contrary, nothing would suit Polonius’s ambitions better than for you to marry me,” said Hamlet coolly.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
