Synonyms for ambition
Most common
All synonyms
Noun
Other
Definitions
- n. 1
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.
My daughter, Johanna, wants to be a firefighter very much. She has a lot of ambition.
Related words
- Word family
- ambitionless ambience ambient ambit ambitious
Forms
- Plural
- ambitions → aspirations, desires, dreams, goals…
Choose the right word
Ambition, literally a going around to solicit votes, has primary reference to the award or approval of others, and is the eager desire of power, fame, or something deemed great and eminent, and viewed as a worthy prize. The prizes of ambition are advancement, fame, honor, and the like.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- goal It is not the goal but the way there that matters.
- dream The time will come when your dream will come true.
- desire It is true that we desire to live in a small town.
- aspiration That seems to me a rather pathetic aspiration.
- gimp Enrico took a picture of himself in a gimp suit.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| ambition | rising | |
| goal | rising | |
| dream | rising | |
| desire | rising | |
| aspiration | rising | |
| gimp | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- mind1, goal1, gimp
- 5 letters
- cause1, drive1, dream1
- 6 letters
- desire3
- 9 letters
- intention3
- 10 letters
- aspiration4
- 13 letters
- ambitiousness
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (desire3 = 3 syllables).