enterprising
Americanadjective
-
ready to undertake projects of importance or difficulty, or untried schemes; energetic in carrying out any undertaking.
Business is in need of enterprising young people.
- Synonyms:
- adventurous, resourceful, venturesome, venturous
-
characterized by great imagination or initiative.
an enterprising foreign policy.
adjective
Related Words
See ambitious.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of enterprising
First recorded in 1565–75; enterprise + -ing 2
Explanation
If you are enterprising, you are creative and show initiative. Were you the kid who bought candy before school and sold it during school at a profit? If so, you were an enterprising little one. Though it has the word, enterprise, in it and is often used to describe people who set up businesses to fill a need, enterprising can be used for any kind of display of creative initiative. Kids who decide on their own to build a skate park are enterprising, as is a dance company that is able to perform a piece on a shoestring budget.
Vocabulary lists containing enterprising
"Earth (A Gift Shop)," Vocabulary from the short story
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"
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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.
It is symbolic of your enterprising younger self, and all of those fancy cars and five-star vacations that you passed up on, perhaps using that money as a down payment on your next property instead.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 6, 2026
And they must seem intelligent without actually being enterprising enough to stand out from the crowd of near-identical films.
From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026
Our enterprising Gravedigger, a true woman of science, engineers a lizard elixir and regenerates the finger into a long tentacle that eventually demands a body.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026
The Northampton back row was included in the starting XV for the first time after seven enterprising cameos as a replacement.
From BBC • Feb. 24, 2026
Duer was the epitome of the enterprising speculator whom he trusted and who ultimately proved untrustworthy.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
