ambitious

[am-bish-uh s] /æmˈbɪʃ əs/

adjective

having ambition; eagerly desirous of achieving or obtaining success, power, wealth, a specific goal, etc.:

ambitious students.

showing or caused by ambition:

an ambitious attempt to break the record.

strongly desirous; eager:

ambitious of love and approval.

requiring exceptional effort, ability, etc.:

an ambitious program for eliminating all slums.

Origin

1350-1400; Middle English < Latin ambitiōsus, equivalent to ambiti(ō) ambition + -ōsus -ous

Related forms

ambitiously, adverb

ambitiousness, noun

nonambitious, adjective

nonambitiously, adverb

nonambitiousness, noun

overambitious, adjective

overambitiously, adverb

overambitiousness, noun

preambitious, adjective

preambitiously, adverb

superambitious, adjective

superambitiously, adverb

superambitiousness, noun

unambitious, adjective

unambitiously, adverb

unambitiousness, noun

Synonyms

1. Ambitious, aspiring, enterprising describe a person who wishes to rise above his or her present position or condition. The ambitious person wishes to attain worldly success, and puts forth effort toward this end: ambitious for social position. The enterprising person, interested especially in wealth, is characterized by energy and daring in undertaking projects. The aspiring person wishes to rise (mentally or spiritually) to a higher level or plane, or to attain some end above ordinary expectations.

Antonyms

1. apathetic, lackadaisical.

Examples from the web for ambitious

Just a half hour train ride away, a rather more ambitious theme park is under construction.
He has not been assertive, ambitious, clear — or audacious — enough.
The goal is ambitious and costly even over a longer time frame.
How an ambitious experiment in ecological living led to a goat pen.
But now, it is playing a more ambitious and potentially more risky role.
Fairly solid game, ambitious in scope of players, but just a little rough around the edges.
However, they take much of what they are told at face value and provide only superficial analysis of their ambitious undertaking.
The entire semester was quite an ambitious intellectual ride.
One cannot be ambitious without being motivated, but one can be motivated without being ambitious.
Indigo has set an ambitious goal of reaching 50% of recycled paper content in books within five years.

British Dictionary definitions for ambitious

ambitious

/æmˈbɪʃəs/

adjective

having a strong desire for success or achievement; wanting power, money, etc

necessitating extraordinary effort or ability: an ambitious project

(often foll by of) having a great desire (for something or to do something)

Derived Forms

ambitiously, adverb
ambitiousness, noun

Word Origin and History for ambitious

adj.

late 14c., from Latin ambitiosus "going around to canvass for office," from ambitio (see ambition). Related: Ambitiously.