- pronunciation:
- aem
bI
shs
- features:
- Word History, Word Parts
part of speech: |
adjective |
definition: |
having or showing a strong desire to reach a goal or have success in general.
Carlos is an ambitious young man who plans to become a doctor.- antonyms:
- lazy
- similar words:
- climbing, competitive, eager, hungry
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derivation: |
ambitiously (adv.) |
The word
ambitious is from a Latin word that means "to go about" or "walk around." In Roman times, this Latin word,
ambitio, came to have a special meaning. It was used for a man who went around town for a particular reason: to persuade people to vote for him. Today, we would still say that someone who enters an election is ambitious, but the English word now has a wider meaning.