entrepreneurial

adjective

en·​tre·​pre·​neur·​ial ˌän-trə-p(r)ə-ˈnər-ē-əl 

-ˈn(y)u̇r-, 

ˌäⁿn-

: having to do with the creation and development of economic ventures : of, relating to, characteristic of, or suited to an entrepreneur

entrepreneurial skills/ambitions/projects

entrepreneurial zeal

With your colleagues and the kids out of the way, what do you buy for that spouse or friend who's gone the entrepreneurial route and is working at home?

—Don Crabb

Harvard Business School, long known as a gateway to corporate America, last October established a beachhead in the nation's entrepreneurial epicenter, California's Silicon Valley.

—Marc Ballon

… economic development is more likely to occur (if at all) in the more entrepreneurial southern region.

—Sarah Searight

also : engaged or interested in the development of economic ventures

an ambitious and entrepreneurial young woman

a company founded by a group of entrepreneurial scientists

entrepreneurialism

ˌäⁿn-trə-p(r)ə-ˈnər-ē-ə-li-zəm 

-ˈn(y)u̇r-, 

ˌäⁿn-

noun

The map shows the distribution of high-tech manufacturing firms in the southeastern United States …, helping to identify towns and cities that are lodestones of high-tech entrepreneurialism.

—John Tierney

entrepreneurially

ˌäⁿn-trə-p(r)ə-ˈnər-ē-ə-lē 

-ˈn(y)u̇r-, 

ˌäⁿn-

adverb

… some 25 teams, drawn mostly from the ranks of universities and entrepreneurially minded engineers …

—Joseph Hooper

Examples of entrepreneurial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Many of these inventions quickly spawned new firms, accelerating America’s entrepreneurial dynamism. —David H. Hsu, Fortune, 11 May 2026

What makes her performance as Monica Reese-Dinkins — the ex-wife and current agent to Tracy Morgan’s title character — especially sharp is how closely the character’s entrepreneurial drive mirrors Alexander’s own work behind the scenes in recent years. —Marcus Jones, IndieWire, 11 May 2026

Ted’s entrepreneurial spirit, creative ambition and willingness to take risks changed the media industry forever. —Dominic Patten, Deadline, 6 May 2026

After all, his financial prowess, paired with his devoted retail fanbase and his very real entrepreneurial chops (Chewy) are what gave his bid some credibility in the first place. —Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 6 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1890, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for entrepreneurial

• seigneurial