- determined to be successful, rich, powerful, etc.
- a fiercely ambitious young manager
- They were very ambitious for their children (= they wanted them to be successful).
Extra ExamplesTopics Successb1, Personal qualitiesb1- I am very ambitious. Nothing means more to me than winning.
- I'm not ambitious enough to try for the top.
- I've never been particularly ambitious.
- She's a great student—dedicated, hardworking and ambitious.
- The students are all ambitious to do well.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- seem
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- for
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- needing a lot of effort, money or time to succeed
- the government’s ambitious plans for social reform
- Jogging every morning? That’s very ambitious, isn’t it?
- Several interns will be working on three ambitious new projects.
Extra ExamplesTopics Difficulty and failureb2- Phases 2 and 3 seem overly ambitious.
- The book is ambitious in scope.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- seem
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- in
opposite unambitious
Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French ambitieux or Latin ambitiosus, from ambitio, from ambire ‘go around (canvassing for votes)’.
Check pronunciation:
ambitious