ambitious
Americanadjective
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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
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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.
-
strongly desirous; eager.
It is common for children to be ambitious of love and approval.
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requiring exceptional effort, ability, etc..
The candidate is proposing an ambitious program for eliminating all slums.
adjective
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having a strong desire for success or achievement; wanting power, money, etc
-
necessitating extraordinary effort or ability
an ambitious project
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(often foll by of) having a great desire (for something or to do something)
Related Words
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.
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
Etymology
Origin of ambitious
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin ambitiōsus, equivalent to ambiti(ō) ambition + -ōsus -ous
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.
However, a more ambitious attempt to bring together the global game comes at a greater carbon cost.
From BBC
The ambitious gothic Netflix film featured an Arctic explorer ship frozen on the ice, and Frankenstein's horror lab on top of a Victorian water tower.
From BBC
Nasa says the landing will happen by 2028, but accepted this could be an ambitious time frame.
From BBC
Moscow’s inability to secure a swift victory against both Ukraine and then Prigozhin, despite multibillion-dollar upgrades to its military, suggested to Chinese leaders that ambitious modernization doesn’t automatically produce a formidable fighting force.
But now AI can "elevate low-budget productions into more ambitious genres such as sci-fi, period drama and, now, action", Kwok says.
From BBC
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.
