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
- enterprisingly adverb
- nonenterprising adjective
- unenterprising adjective
- unenterprisingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of enterprising
First recorded in 1565–75; enterprise + -ing 2
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.
Not since “Cats” has there been a more misguided yet enterprising work of big-budget, intellectual property cinema.
From Salon • Mar. 8, 2026
Trains pulled in every 15 or 20 minutes, as many as the endlessly enterprising operators of Ukraine's railway network could find in the sidings and marshalling yards.
From BBC • Feb. 24, 2026
Despite Inter's enterprising start it was Atletico who took the lead, with Alvarez drilling home from close range when the ball deflected nicely for him.
From Barron's • Nov. 26, 2025
For enterprising men, money from war, industry or trade was a passport through social frontiers—the tradesman, merchant or lucky naval captain could become a landed gentleman, as happens in Austen’s novels.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025
The ladders belonged to an enterprising Sherpa from the village of Gorak Shep who turned a nice profit by renting them out each season.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
