ambitiousadj.n.
/amˈbɪʃəs/, U.S. /æmˈbɪʃəs/ A. adj.† 4. Of language: indirect, roundabout; verbose, long-winded, wordy. Obsolete. rare.
1. Of a person: full of ambition; strongly desiring achievement, advancement, or honour; aspiring to a high position; (in current use) determined to succeed, excel, or prosper; driven. Also (particularly in early use): desiring success to an excessive or immoderate degree; †arrogant, overbearing (obsolete).
a. Without complement, in attributive or predicative use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > hope > aspiration, ambition > [adjective]
ambitiousc1384
aspiring1577
heroical1581
high-flyinga1586
high-reaching1593
soaringa1616
aspirant1808
would-be1813
Diotrephic1838
Diotrephian1845
Diotrephesian1862
millennial1897
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > aspiration or ambition > [adjective] > ambitious > for honour or rank
ambitiousc1384
climbing1561
glorious1609
timocratic1852
timocratical1871
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Cor. xiii. 5 Not inblowyn..not ambicious [L. ambitiosa], or coueitous of worschipis.
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) iii. 3764 Vicious men..Void of vertu, ambicious in ther pride.
?a1600 ( R. Sempill Legend Bischop St. Androis in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xlv. 370 Proude ambitious bangesters... Subscryvit aganist your Maiestie, For to destroy our realme and regione.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 256. ¶7 How few ambitious Men are there, who have got as much Fame as they desired.
1812 G. Crabbe Tales xiii. 231 She thinks To make her fortune, an ambitious minx!
1956 N. Algren Walk on Wild Side i. 111 New Orleans offered almost unlimited opportunities to ambitious young men of neat appearance willing to begin at the bottom and work their way up.
2013 T. Thorn Bedsit Disco Queen 319 If you were being properly ambitious and careerist, you would regard it as the perfect stepping-stone leading to bigger and better things.
b. In predicative use followed by prepositional phrase with for (also †of, †after) specifying the object of ambition.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > aspiration or ambition > [adjective] > ambitious
affectioneda1533
aspiring1577
ambitious1589
affectionate1598
emulous1609
endfulla1644
ambient1647
towering1665
towery1731
assurgent1881
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. viii. 13 Being a quiet mynded man and nothing ambitious of glory.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) ii. vii. 43 O that I were a foole, I am ambitious for a motley coat. View more context for this quotation
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. xi. 48 Men that are ambitious of Military Command.
1772 London Mag. Nov. 507/1 Young men, who were ambitious after preferment or wealth.
1879 Contemp. Rev. Dec. 683 A youth of talent in modern society, ambitious of political celebrity.
1945 A. G. Dumas & G. Keen Psychiatric Primer for Veteran's Fmaily & Friends 159 His university professor father and his novelist mother.., so proud of Sam, and so ambitious for his success.
2008 Daily Tel. 1 Dec. 23/1 A foolish young man ambitious for a political career.
c. In predicative use followed by infinitive specifying the object of ambition.
ΚΠ
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler ii. 51 You are such a companion..as makes me ambitious to be your scholer. View more context for this quotation
1743 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer III. (ed. 2) 221 The Tun-man..ambitious to supplant the Workman Brewer.
1897 R. Rowland Ambitious Slave xii. 91 The negro who was born too ambitious to remain where circumstances placed him.
1943 Far Eastern Q. 2 398 He recognized that Japan was essentially a militant nation, ambitious to win a wider place in the world.
1997 A. Sivanandan When Memory Dies ii. i. 125 I would warm to her praise and be ambitious to satisfy her every whim.
2.
a. Characterized by ambition; manifesting a strong desire to succeed, excel, or prosper.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > aspiration or ambition > [adjective]
ambitiousa1456
aspirational1887
a1456 J. Shirley Death James (BL Add. 38690) in L. M. Matheson Death & Dissent: Two 15th-cent. Chrons. (1999) 24 Breking þ'ordre of wedloke be his foule ambycious lust of aduoutrie.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. xv. 23 A proude ambitious desire to be spoken of farre and wide.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 41 With ambitious aim Against the Throne and Monarchy of God. View more context for this quotation
1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. Sept. (1965) I. 444 An Ambitious thirst after knowledge.
1840 Penny Sunday Reader 5 Jan. 7 The ambitious desire of knowing good and evil.
1963 Plebs Feb. 327/2 A much less ambitious statement..was published in the July edition.
2005 Guardian 3 Aug. i. 6/8 Men in middle youth..attempt to fulfil over-ambitious aspirations for themselves and their families, a survey claims.
b. figurative. Chiefly literary and poetic. That reaches or extends upwards; lofty, rising, towering.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > [adjective] > moving upwards
uprisinga1300
risingc1450
ascensial?1504
mountant1525
mounting1550
orienta1560
ascendant1591
surgenta1592
stying1593
ambitiousc1595
arising1605
ascensive1646
subliming1666
ascending1667
ascensional1753
upmounting1794
rearing1816
upcoming1835
aspirant1845
insurrectionary1864
upgoing1896
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme cxlviii. 35 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 251 Ambitious mountaines, curteous hills [L. montes et omnes colles].
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) i. iii. 7 I haue seene Th'ambitious Ocean swell. View more context for this quotation
1731 A. Pope Epist. to Earl of Burlington 7 Helps th'ambitious Hill the Heav'ns to scale.
1853 Godey's Lady's Bk. Apr. 349/1 To ascend the hill on whose summit rested the snowy stones and ambitious pillars of the unfinished capitol.
1922 F. H. Martin S. Amer. from Surgeon's Point of View vi. 82 Above is the blue sky with great fleecy clouds caressing ambitious peaks.
2004 P. Conaway Los Gatos 7 Los Gatos is exquisitely situated on foothills, with views in many directions of the plain below and the even more ambitious mountains beyond.
3.
a. Of a plan, project, undertaking, etc.: unusually complex, difficult, or impressive; involving a high degree of skill, dedication, etc., to accomplish or fulfil. Also in earlier use: excessively complex, difficult, or elaborate.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > aspiration or ambition > [adjective] > ambitious > of works of art
ambitious1640
1640 R. Brathwait Ar't Asleepe Husband? ix. 316 If they outstrip't not many of our most ambitious and laurel-assuming Labours.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 156. ⁋2 The simplicity is embarrassed by ambitious additions.
1884 Morning Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 22 Sept. Lawrence Barrett will assume the character of the..priest-statesman [sc. Richelieu], one of his most ambitious and impressive roles.
1918 T. S. Eliot Let. 24 Mar. (1988) I. 225 We had five people to lunch, the most ambitious attempt we have ever made, and our small dining-library was packed.
1943 Times 10 June 5/3 Whether or not the ambitious goal which they have set be fully attainable.
1982 G. Payn & S. Morley in N. Coward Diaries (2000) 47 Ambitious plans for a full week of dress rehearsals..had to be abandoned.
2017 New Scientist 24 June 14/1 An ambitious project is under way to return captive-bred, critically endangered Burmese star tortoises to their native habitat.
b. Of a person, esp. an artist: attempting or aspiring to complete, create, or perform particularly complex, difficult, or impressive work. Sometimes suggesting excessive or unrealistic ambitions.
ΚΠ
1651 Hermeticall Banquet 71 Like ambitious Painters, which never thinking their Retraits finished, with too much Curiosity spoil the whole Peece.
1886 F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet Select Notes: Comm. on Internat. Lessons for 1887 230 Just as..an ambitious sculptor will study the Moses of Michael Angelo, or an ambitious composer the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven, so let the conscientious teacher study devoutly the Sermon on the Mount.
1928 N.Y. Times 14 Jan. 16/3 It is shortage of time that must curb the ambitious scientist in his haste to create a homunculus.
2019 Daily Lobo (Univ. New Mexico) (Nexis) 28 Mar. 1 Peele is an ambitious director, mirroring that, ‘Us’ is an ambitious film..that refuses to be disposable and encourages a second viewing.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > copiousness > [adjective] > periphrastic or circumlocutory
ambagious?1532
periphrasticala1638
circumlatory1639
ambagical1652
ambitious1656
circumlocutory1659
roundabout1704
periphrastic1776
ambagitory1814
circumambagious1834
ambaginous1838
circumambulatory1842
circumlocutionary1863
circumlocutional1865
1656 Manasseh ben Israel Vindiciæ Judæorum Pref. sig. A2 Your worship cannot expect either prolix, or polite discourses upon so sad a subject; for who can be ambitious in his own calamity?
1753 R. Rolt Mem. Life J. Lindesay ii. i. 45 Cassius struck the son of Sylla for his ambitious speech.
1846 J. S. Mill Syst. Logic (ed. 2) ii. vii. §4 Put off the ambitious phraseology.
5. U.S. regional (chiefly southern and Midland). Chiefly of animals: spirited, lively; unruly, bad-tempered, vicious. Now rare. [Perhaps related to (slightly later) U.S. regional use of ambition in the sense ‘vindictiveness, hatred, irascibility’.]
ΚΠ
1791 W. Bartram Trav. N. & S. Carolina vi. 188 His proud, ambitious horse strains and pants.
1837 R. M. Bird Nick of Woods I. i. 26 I war a-head of the Major.., and the fight had made him as ambitious as a wild-cat.
1904 Dial. Notes 2 228 A fiery horse is called ambitious, or a vivacious person.
1952 F. C. Brown Coll. N. Carolina Folklore I. 514 Ambitious,..vicious. ‘That dog is mighty ambitious.’
B. n.
Originally: an ambitious person. Now with the and plural agreement: those who are ambitious; ambitious people as a class.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > aspiration or ambition > [noun] > ambitious person
ambitious?a1439
pursuiter1542
pursuer1587
would-be1607
climbera1616
ambitionist1625
consequent1654
sky-flyer1873
wannabe1976
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) viii. l. 206 The proude ambicious callid Domycian.
1570 2nd Tome Homelyes sig. Giiiiv A few ambitious & malitious are the aucthours..of rebellion.
1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. i. f. 44v Of the number of the ambitious, are the haughtie and proude, whose company is wonderfull hatefull.
1614 A. Willet Harmonie vpon 2nd Bk. Samuel xv. 92 The ambitious are so diligent and studious in prosecuting of euill.
1729 T. Stackhouse Compl. Body Divinity iv. viii. 828 The Ambitious are grasping at Power.
1852 Homilist Oct. 69 To break down the individual independency of men..has ever been the aim and effort of the ambitious and the proud.
1961 Education 15 Dec. 1020/2 The ambitious can first make their canoes and then camp in them.
2006 Men's Health Sept. 152/4 The ambitious make their own fate.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2020; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.n.c1384