ambition
Americannoun
-
an earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction, as power, honor, fame, or wealth, and the willingness to strive for its attainment.
Too much ambition caused him to be disliked by his colleagues.
- Synonyms:
- longing, yearning, aspiration
-
the object, state, or result desired or sought after.
The crown was his ambition.
-
desire for work or activity; energy.
I awoke feeling tired and utterly lacking in ambition.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
strong desire for success, achievement, or distinction
-
something so desired; goal; aim
Other Word Forms
- ambitionless adjective
- ambitionlessly adverb
- preambition noun
- superambition noun
Etymology
Origin of ambition
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English ambicio(u)n, from Middle French or directly from Latin ambitiōn- (stem of ambitiō ), equivalent to amb- ambi- + -i- “go” + -t- past participle suffix + -iōn- -ion
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.
Another ambition of the Glasgow project is to connect with five more councils outside Glasgow, share some of the successes from the city and support them to take similar action.
From BBC
About two-thirds of Chinese regions have already lowered growth ambitions for this year, signaling that Beijing could follow suit with the national target.
"Arabic-language films with subtitles could easily fall into that niche film category. My ambition was to take the film out of that niche and show it to the world."
From Barron's
The consequences of costly electricity extend well beyond any individual household’s ambitions for a heat pump or its utility bill.
From Los Angeles Times
The leader of post-revolutionary Iran expanded the country’s global ambitions while facing domestic anger over a failing economy.
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.
