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 time is now to stop Reform and elect a government more radical, more ambitious, more impatient to bring about positive change than any which has gone before it," he will say.

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Ms. Badenoch used her closing speech to the convention Wednesday to roll out an ambitious agenda, particularly on the economy.

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She said the new edition "marks the pinnacle of an exciting and ambitious publishing programme, undertaken with Faber over the past decade".

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Plus, just because a person earns more than you does not mean they are more ambitious than you are, and vice versa.

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But he found the asking price for new franchises ambitious.

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Related Words

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