aspiring

adjective

aspir·​ing ə-ˈspī-riŋ 

: desiring and working to achieve a particular goal : having aspirations to attain a specified profession, position, etc.

an aspiring actor [=a person who aspires to be and is trying to become an actor]

an aspiring novelist

Synonyms

• ambitious

Examples of aspiring in a Sentence

an aspiring young pianist eager to win the prestigious competition

Recent Examples on the Web

He was raised with brother Steven, an aspiring lawyer who recently graduated from the University of Kentucky’s law school and wants to become a prosecutor; sister Shekinah, a nurse; and brother Shemar, an aspiring doctor who just graduated from Florida A&M with a bio-medical degree. —Walter Villa, Miami Herald, 6 Aug. 2025

Read more about Europe's aspiring challenger to Elon Musk's satellite operator Starlink here. —Jenni Reid,holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 5 Aug. 2025

Directed by David McNally, Coyote Ugly follows Violet Sanford (Piper Perabo), an aspiring songwriter who trades her quiet New Jersey hometown for the bright lights of New York City. —Kate Hogan, People.com, 4 Aug. 2025

Instead, the aspiring influencer and her royal husband are being dragged into the latest tawdry, scandalous mess involving Harry’s dissolute uncle, Prince Andrew, thanks to a new new biography about the disgraced Duke of York. —Martha Ross, Mercury News, 4 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1788, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for aspiring

• acquiring
• admiring
• conspiring
• enquiring
• expiring
• inspiring
• perspiring
• rehiring
• retiring
• untiring
• firing
• hiring