Entry Word: ambition

Function: noun

Meaning: 1 eager desire for personal advancement <“Talent without ambition will not make you a star,” McKenzieʼs dance instructor liked to remind her>

Synonyms aspiration, go-getting

Related Words determination, diligence, drive, energy, enterprise, go, hustle, industry, initiative, motivation, push; opportunism; aggression, assertiveness, daring, spirit; ardor, avidity, eagerness, keenness, passion; avarice, greed

Near Antonyms apathy, indifference, unconcern; idleness, indolence, inertia, laziness, lethargy, shiftlessness, sloth

2 readiness to engage in daring or difficult activity <the ambition shown by the undersea explorers of the Mariana Trench, the deepest in the world> — see enterprise 2
3 something that one hopes or intends to accomplish <his ambition is to study international business, then get a job overseas> — see goal