ambition
/æmˈbɪʃ.ən/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.91 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Eager or inordinate desire for some object that confers distinction, as preferment, honor, superiority, political power, or fame; desire to distinguish one's self from other people.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The act of going about to solicit or obtain an office, or any other object of desire; canvassing.
Countable; Obsolete; Uncountable
verb
To seek after ambitiously or eagerly; to covet.
Example Sentences
- "My daughter, Johanna, wants to be a firefighter very much. She has a lot of ambition."
- "The third part of practice hath divers branches, but one principal root in these our times, which is the vast and overspreading ambition and usurpation of the see of Rome; […]"
- "One is aſtoniſhed hovv ſuch a ſmall ſpot could furniſh Men ſufficient to ſacrifice to the pitiful Ambition of poſſeſſing five or ſix thouſand more Acres, or tvvo or three more Villages: […]"
- "Ambition makes you look pretty ugly / Kicking, squealing, Gucci little piggy"
- "My ambition is to own a helicopter."
- "I on th' other ſide / Us'd no ambition to commend my deeds, […]"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts? Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰíder. Proto-Italic *amβi- Latin ambi- Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- Proto-Indo-European *h₁éyti Proto-Italic *ejō Proto-Italic *eō Latin eō Latin ambiō Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin ambitiōder. Old French ambitionbor. Middle English ambicioun English ambition From Middle English ambicioun, from Old French ambition, from Latin ambitiō (“ambition, a striving for favor, literally 'a going around', especially of candidates for office in Rome soliciting votes”), from ambiō (“to go around, solicit votes”). See ambient, issue. By surface analysis, ambit + -ion.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *h₂en-, *h₁ey-, ambicioun, ambition, ambitiō
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /æmˈbɪʃ.ən/
- British English: /æmˈbɪʃ.ən/