entrepreneurial

American  

[ahn-truh-pruh-nur-ee-uhl, -noor-] / ˌɑn trə prəˈnɜr i əl, -ˈnʊər- /

adjective

1. of or relating to a business or endeavor, especially one that involves considerable individual initiative and risk.

   The article highlights what some cities are doing to promote entrepreneurial development.

   Innovation, when combined with an entrepreneurial streak, can be a powerful catalyst for economic growth.

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Other Word Forms

• entrepreneurialism noun
• entrepreneurially adverb
• entrepreneurism noun
• nonentrepreneurial adjective
• semientrepreneurial adjective

Etymology

Origin of entrepreneurial

entrepreneur ( def. ) + -ial ( def. )

Explanation

You can call someone willing to take financial risks in new ventures entrepreneurial. Caught up in the entrepreneurial spirit, you felt like a modern-day pioneer braving the wild frontier of business. Then you ran out of lemonade. Entrepreneurial is the adjective form of the noun "entrepreneur," someone investing in risky financial situations. The base noun can be traced to the Latin prendere, "to take," and the 19th Century French entrepreneur, "one who undertakes or manages." It often involves a risky undertaking, however, including the possibility of losing everything. The 19th-Century English Physicist Michael Faraday once broke it down this way: “The five essential entrepreneurial skills for success are concentration, discrimination, organization, innovation and communication.”

Example Sentences

Raman, who co-authored the new book “Open to Work” with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky, said employees need to strike a balance between driving AI efficiencies and showing an entrepreneurial mindset.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 11, 2026

What DeepSeek showed was the Chinese entrepreneurial appetite for seeking out opportunities in research and innovation, despite curbs on the import of advanced tech.

From BBC • Apr. 5, 2026

It’s not just entrepreneurial witches selling spells on Etsy.

From Salon • Apr. 1, 2026

The couple’s glitzy life in California has left them with bills to pay, and so far the Sussex entrepreneurial efforts have been a mixed bag.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026

The brother-and-sister team created an impressive poster that described their entrepreneurial efforts as purveyors of lemonade.

From "The Lemonade War" by Jacqueline Davies