ambitionnoun
uk/æmˈbɪʃ.ən/us/æmˈbɪʃ.ən/B1 [ C ] a strong wish to achieve something:
[ + to infinitive ] His ambition is ultimately to run his own business.
He has already achieved his main ambition in life - to become wealthy.
political ambitions
She doubts whether she'll ever be able to fulfil her ambition.
I've always had a burning (= very great) ambition to be a film director.
After his heart attack, he abandoned his ambition to become prime minister.
B2 [ U ] a strong wish to be successful, powerful, rich, etc.:
She has a lot of ambition.
More examples
- Her ambition and dogged determination ensured that she rose to the top of her profession.
- We are looking for someone with drive and ambition.
- Driving ambition is what most great leaders have in common.
- Being here is the fulfilment of a lifelong ambition.
- She finally achieved her ambition to visit South America.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Goals and purposes
- affordance
- aim
- aspiration
- avail
- cause 1
- dedicated
- deliverable
- desire
- end
- object
- objective
- order
- orientation
- point
- poodle
- poodle around (sth)
- prize
- purpose
- should
- utility
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