Definitions for ambition
æmˈbɪʃ ənam·bi·tion

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:3.5 / 4 votes

1. ambition, aspiration, dreamnoun

   a cherished desire

   "his ambition is to own his own business"

2. ambition, ambitiousnessverb

   a strong drive for success

3. ambitionverb

   have as one's ambition

WiktionaryRate this definition:3.0 / 1 vote

1. ambitionnoun

   Eager or inordinate desire for some object that confers distinction, as preferment, honor, superiority, political power, or literary fame; desire to distinguish one's self from other people.

2. ambitionnoun

   An object of an ardent desire.

   My ambition is to own a helicopter.

3. ambitionnoun

   A desire, as in (sense 1), for another person to achieve these things.

4. ambitionnoun

   A personal quality similar to motivation, not necessarily tied to a single goal.

5. ambitionverb

   To seek after ambitiously or eagerly; to covet.

   Pausanias, ambitioning the sovereignty of Greece, bargains with Xerxes for his daughter in marriage. uE000106558uE001 Trumbull.

6. Etymology: From ambicion, from ambition, from ambitio, from ambio. See ambient, issue.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Ambitionnoun

   The desire of something higher than is possessed at present.

   Etymology: ambitio, Lat.

   1. The desire of preferment or honour.

   Who would think, without having such a mind as Antiphilus, that so great goodness could not have bound gratefulness? and so high advancement not have satisfied his ambition? Philip Sidney.

   2. The desire of any thing great or excellent.

   The quick’ning power would be, and so would rest;
   The sense would not be only, but be well:
   But wit’s ambition longeth to the best,
   For it desires in endless bliss to dwell. John Davies.

   Urge them, while their souls
   Are capable of this ambition;
   Lest zeal, now melted by the windy breath
   Of soft petitions, pity and remorse,
   Cool and congeal again to what it was. William Shakespeare, K. John.

   3. It is used with to before a verb, and of before a noun.

   I had a very early ambition to recommend my self to your Lordship’s patronage. Addison.

   There was an ambition of wit, and an affectation of gayety. Alexander Pope, Letters. Preface to his.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ambition

   Ambition is a strong desire and determination to achieve a particular goal or success. It often refers to a person's aspiration, drive, or motivation to accomplish something significant or to strive for higher achievements in life.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:3.0 / 2 votes

1. Ambitionnoun

   the act of going about to solicit or obtain an office, or any other object of desire; canvassing

2. Ambitionnoun

   an eager, and sometimes an inordinate, desire for preferment, honor, superiority, power, or the attainment of something

3. Ambitionverb

   to seek after ambitiously or eagerly; to covet

4. Etymology: [F. ambition, L. ambitio a going around, especially of candidates for office is Rome, to solicit votes (hence, desire for office or honor), fr. ambire to go around. See Ambient, Issue.]

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Ambition

   am-bish′un, n. the desire of power, honour, fame, excellence.—n. Ambi′tionist (Carlyle), an ambitious man.—adj. Ambi′tious, full of ambition (with of, formerly for): strongly desirous of anything—esp. power: aspiring: indicating ambition: showy or pretentious.—adv. Ambi′tiously.—n. Ambi′tiousness. [Fr.—L. ambition-em, the going about—that is, the canvassing for votes practised by candidates for office in Rome—ambi, about, and īre, itum, to go.]

Military Dictionary and GazetteerRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ambition

   In a military sense, signifies a desire of greater posts or honors. Every person in the army or navy ought to have a spirit of emulation to arrive at the very summit of the profession by his personal merit.

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ambition

   Song lyrics by ambition -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by ambition on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Desire

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'ambition' in Nouns Frequency: #1648

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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How to pronounce ambition?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say ambition in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of ambition in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of ambition in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of ambition in a Sentence

1. Larry Sanders:

   He comes across as a nice guy... but he's got very little ambition, he's a heart and soul member of the' we can't really do very much' campaign.

2. Jonathan Swift:

   Ambition often puts men upon doing the meanest offices so climbing is performed in the same posture with creeping.

3. Carl Sagan:

   The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition.

4. Niccolo Machiavelli:

   He who blinded by ambition, raises himself to a position whence he cannot mount higher, must thereafter fall with the greatest loss.

5. Peter Baumgartner:

   When we launched The Residence by Etihad last year, we wanted to challenge the conventions in commercial air travel, the Etihad Lifestyle Concierge service is a continuation of that ambition.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=ambition
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Ambition
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=ambition
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ambition
6. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=ambition
7. ^ Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/59563/pg59563-images.html
8. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=ambition