ambitious
adjectivecommon in dialogue
- United States//æmˈbɪʃ.əs//
Having or showing ambition; wanting a lot of power, honor, respect, superiority, or other distinction.
adjective
- 1
Having or showing ambition; wanting a lot of power, honor, respect, superiority, or other distinction.
an ambitious person
someone's ambitious nature
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— […]
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.
- 2
Very desirous.
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.
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
- 3
Resulting from, characterized by, or indicating, ambition.
an ambitious project
an ambitious style
an ambitious attempt to take power
an ambitious plan
- 4
Hard to achieve.
an ambitious goal
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.
Forms
- comparative
- ambitiouser, more ambitious
- superlative
- ambitiousest, most ambitious
ambitious · Having or showing ambition; wanting a lot of power, honor, respect, superiority, or other distinction.
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