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.
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
Not since “Cats” has there been a more misguided yet enterprising work of big-budget, intellectual property cinema.
From Salon • Mar. 8, 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
It was my enterprising idea to make souvenirs to sell to the tourists.
From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
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.
