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

He was managing director at Thiel’s Clarium Capital and CEO of the Thiel Foundation, and co-founder of the Thiel Fellowship, which offers university students $250,000 to drop out and pursue entrepreneurial interests.

From Salon • May 7, 2026

“Our greater scale will allow us to invest more in creative talent ... while preserving the nimble, entrepreneurial spirit that artists and songwriters value most.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2026

Altman's unassuming, friendly demeanor contrasted sharply with Musk's abrasive style, but they shared an entrepreneurial spirit and a penchant for risk-taking.

From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026

In 2012, the designer took the company private “to embrace a more entrepreneurial perspective.”

From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026

Up and down the street were entrepreneurial immigrants in colorful clothes—embroidered guayaberas and flowing kente and spray-painted T-shirts—hustling everything from mix tapes to T-shirts to incense from crowded sidewalk tables.

From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore