ambitious

comparative ambitiouser · comparative more ambitious · superlative ambitiousest · superlative most ambitious

1. Having or showing ambition; wanting a lot of power, honor, respect, superiority, or other distinction.

   an ambitious person

   3 more examples

   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— […]

   1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems

   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.

   1891, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Man with the Twisted Lip

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.

   1 more example

   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

   1864, Henry David Thoreau, The Maine Woods

3. Resulting from, characterized by, or indicating, ambition.

   an ambitious plan

   3 more examples

   an ambitious project

   an ambitious style

   an ambitious attempt to take power

   Synonyms: showy, aspiring, grand, aspirational

4. Hard to achieve.

   an ambitious goal

   1 more example

   A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays. This set-up solves several problems […]. Stopping high-speed trains wastes energy and time, so why not simply slow them down enough for a moving platform to pull alongside?

   2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly)