aspiration

American  

[as-puh-rey-shuhn] / ˌæs pəˈreɪ ʃən /

noun

1. a strong desire, longing, or aim; ambition.

   intellectual aspirations.

   Synonyms:

   craving, yearning

2. a goal or objective that is strongly desired.

   The presidency has been his aspiration since boyhood.

3. the act of aspirating or breathing in.

4. Phonetics.

   1. articulation accompanied by an audible puff of breath, as in the h -sound of how, or of when (hwen), or in the release of initial stops, as in the k -sound of key.

   2. the use of such a speech sound, or aspirate, in pronunciation.

5. Medicine/Medical.

   1. the act of removing a fluid, as pus or serum, from a cavity of the body, by a hollow needle or trocar connected with a suction syringe.

   2. the act of inhaling fluid or a foreign body into the bronchi and lungs, often after vomiting.

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aspiration British  

/ -trɪ, ˈæspɪrətərɪ, -trɪ, ˌæspɪˈreɪʃən, əˈspaɪrətərɪ /

noun

1. strong desire to achieve something, such as success

2. the aim of such desire

3. 1. the act of breathing

   2. a breath

4. phonetics

   1. the pronunciation of a stop with an audible and forceful release of breath

   2. the friction of the released breath

   3. an aspirated consonant

5. removal of air or fluid from a body cavity by suction

6. med

   1. the sucking of fluid or foreign matter into the air passages of the body

   2. the removal of air or fluid from the body by suction

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Other Word Forms

• aspirational adjective
• aspiratory adjective
• superaspiration noun

Etymology

Origin of aspiration

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin aspīrātiōn-, stem of aspīrātiō “a breathing upon”; aspirate, -ion

Explanation

If your aspiration, or ambition, is to climb Mt. Everest someday, you better start training, because it’s a long, hard climb that requires a lot of preparation. Aspiration means "inhalation" or "breathing." So how did it come to mean "ambition" or "the will to succeed"? The Latin gives us a clue: spirare ("to breathe") and spiritus ("spirit"). It was once believed that our breath was our soul or spirit, which might explain why we talk about "breathing life into" something, or coming up with energy and ideas to invigorate it. How else to breathe life into something than with ambition and drive, in other words, "spirit"?

Example Sentences

Speaking to the BBC, Kebede said "we all support" a desire for more inclusion, but "there is just not the adequate funding or staffing levels to meet that aspiration".

From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026

The goal isn’t to limit enjoyment, but to ensure that spending reflects actual use rather than aspiration.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 18, 2026

That collapse has erased hundreds of billions in market value from European luxury conglomerates and American beauty giants that bet heavily on Chinese middle-class aspiration.

From Barron's • Feb. 15, 2026

Beshear’s not-yet-candidacy, still in the fledgling phase, offers a mix of aspiration and admonition.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 1, 2026

That night she realized that she would not have a moment of rest until she showed Mauricio Babilonia the uselessness of his aspiration and she spent the week turning that anxiety about in her mind.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Related Words

• aim
• ambition
• desire
• dream
• eagerness
• endeavor
• inclination
• longing
• objective
• passion
• wish
• yearning