Dictionary

ambitious en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /æmˈbɪʃ.əs/ (US)
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English ambitious, from Middle French ambitieus, from Latin ambitiosus, from ambitio; see ambition. Compare with French ambitieux. By surface analysis, ambit + -ious.

Meanings

1. (of a person or their character) Having or showing ambition; wanting a lot of power, honor, respect, superiority, or other distinction.
   • I was ambitious—have you known The passion, father? You have not: A cottager, I mark’d a throne Of half the world as all my own, And murmur’d at such lowly lot— […] 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:
   • As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the country, and eventually married, without anyone having a suspicion as to my real occupation. 1891, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Man with the Twisted Lip:
   • an ambitious person
   • someone's ambitious nature
2. (followed by "of" or the infinitive) Very desirous.
   • We were soon in the midst of the rapids, which were more swift and tumultuous than any we had poled up, and had turned to the side of the stream for the purpose of warping, when the boatmen, who felt some pride in their skill, and were ambitious to do something more than usual 1864, Henry David Thoreau, The Maine Woods:
   • 30 June 2019, Sam Wallace in The Telegraph, Manchester United must shape Aaron Wan-Bissaka into a £50m all-rounder - but there is no hiding place at Old Trafford Now he is joining a club ambitious to return to a model of dominating games and attacking opposition.
3. Resulting from, characterized by, or indicating, ambition.
   • an ambitious attempt to take power
   • an ambitious style
   • an ambitious project
   • an ambitious plan
4. Hard to achieve.
   • an ambitious goal
   • A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays. This set-up solves several problems […]. Stopping high-speed trains wastes energy and time, so why not simply slow them down enough for a moving platform to pull alongside? 2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly):

Forms

Antonyms

unambitious · nonambitious

Deriveds

overambitious · hyperambitious · underambitious · superambitious · ambitiously · ambitiousness

Relateds

ambition

Synonyms

showy · aspiring · grand · aspirational

Translations (95)

cmn 熱切的 /热切的 (strongly desirous) · pt ambicioso (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · fr ambitieux (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · sdn paddinósu (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · cmn 遠大 /远大 (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · gd dian-thograch (strongly desirous) · ru жа́ждущий (strongly desirous) · bg жадуващ (strongly desirous) · pt ambicioso (hard to achieve) · ru претенцио́зный (showy) · ka ამბიციური (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · fi kunnianhimoinen (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · nl eerzuchtig (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · pl ambitny (showy) · de ehrgeizig (strongly desirous) · da ambitiøs (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · hak 遠大 /远大 (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · hu ambiciózus (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · yue 遠大 /远大 (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · hu becsvágyó (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · it ambizioso (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · hy հավակնոտ (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · bg амбицио́зен (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · pl ambicjonalny (showy) · ro ambițios (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · vi có hoài bão (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · tr hevesli (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · cmn 難以實現的 /难以实现的 (hard to achieve) · eo glorama (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · de ehrgeizig (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · ja 野心的 (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · cmn 有雄心 (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · ru амбицио́зный (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · sdc ambiziosu (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · mi whai awhero (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · he שאפתני (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · sv högtflygande (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · lb éiergäizeg (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · ccc kapapeskajpola (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · lb ambitiéis (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · be славалюбі́вы (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · nl ambitieus (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · gd gionach (strongly desirous) · cs ctižádostivý (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · cmn 渴望的 (strongly desirous) · ka პატივმოყვარე (strongly desirous) · tr gösterişli (showy) · de ehrgeizig (showy) · sc mattauddone (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · sh častohlepan (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · cmn 雄心勃勃的 (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · gd dian-thograch (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · be амбіцы́йны (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · th มักใหญ่ใฝ่สูง (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · es ambicioso (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · th ทะเยอทะยาน (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · uk амбіці́йний (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · mt ambizzjuż (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · ru показно́й (showy) · fi innokas (strongly desirous) · ar طَمُوح (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · vi có tham vọng (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · uk амбі́тний (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · la ambitiōsus (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · bg претенцио́зен (showy) · tr hırslı (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · enm ambicious (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · gd gionach (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · es ambicioso (strongly desirous) · pl ambitny (hard to achieve) · hu nagyravágyó (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · sc ambitziosu (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · ru честолюби́вый (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · sv ambitiös (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · fi kunnianhimoinen (hard to achieve) · be амбі́тны (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · cmn 有野心的 (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · tr havalı (showy) · cmn 艱巨的 /艰巨的 (hard to achieve) · ca ambiciós (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · pl ambitny (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · cmn 顯示野心的 /显示野心的 (showy) · de aufstrebend (showy) · gl ambicioso (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · sh ambiciozan (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · fi näyttävä (showy) · cmn 出於野心的 /出于野心的 (showy) · uk честолю́бний (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · bg честолюби́в (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · tr istekli (strongly desirous) · nl eerzuchtig (strongly desirous) · de ambitioniert (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · tr arzulu (strongly desirous) · ko 야심적 (possessing, or controlled by, ambition) · eo ambicia (possessing, or controlled by, ambition)