overambitious
adjective
over·am·bi·tious
ˌō-vər-am-ˈbi-shəs 
: excessively ambitious
The reforms of the Great Society succeeded in markedly reducing poverty, although they fell short of President Lyndon B. Johnson's overambitious goals.—
Dennis H. Wrong
Dennis H. WrongDr. Godfrey, who has seen more than his share of the fallout from overambitious exercise programs, advises against jumping and pounding exercises for people over 50 …—Jane E. Brody
Jane E. Brody… NASA's original plans for the shuttle were overambitious: the commitment to provide routine and economical access to space locked the agency into a schedule too tight to be met with the available resources.—Scientific American
Scientific American
overambitiously
adverb
planned overambitiously for the future
I overambitiously tried the traditional full Irish breakfast …
—Laura Reiley
Laura Reiley
overambitiousness
noun
My hopes for another gardening season have once again been dashed by my overambitiousness and basically lazy nature.
—Michelle Kennedy
Michelle Kennedy
Examples of overambitious in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The personal health record was consigned to the graveyard of overambitious tech dreams.
—Stephen Wunker, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025
Wharton might make a wrong decision, miscue a tricky ball, or be overambitious with his distribution on occasion.
—Thom Harris, New York Times, 15 May 2025
Taylor Pyke’s great expectations for her Mundelein softball career weren’t overambitious.
—Bobby Narang, Chicago Tribune, 11 Apr. 2025
Whether a technological triumph or an overambitious experiment, there’s no denying that the Zumwalt-class is a warship like no other.
—Interesting Engineering, 28 Feb. 2025
But without realistic steps, this overambitious mindset can leave you feeling burnt out.
—Mark Travers, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025
But without realistic steps, this overambitious mindset can leave you feeling burnt out.
—Mark Travers, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025
This sets the stage for the recurring theme of the season, with overambitious district attorney Harvey Dent (Diedrich Bader) running for mayor, putting him in conflict, but maybe also in cahoots, with Thorne.
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 30 July 2024
The company made decisions on hiring and new products last year that were overambitious, Mickos said.
—James Rundle, WSJ, 16 Aug. 2023
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Stephen Wunker, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025
Wharton might make a wrong decision, miscue a tricky ball, or be overambitious with his distribution on occasion.
—Thom Harris, New York Times, 15 May 2025
Taylor Pyke’s great expectations for her Mundelein softball career weren’t overambitious.
—Bobby Narang, Chicago Tribune, 11 Apr. 2025
Whether a technological triumph or an overambitious experiment, there’s no denying that the Zumwalt-class is a warship like no other.
—Interesting Engineering, 28 Feb. 2025
But without realistic steps, this overambitious mindset can leave you feeling burnt out.
—Mark Travers, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025
But without realistic steps, this overambitious mindset can leave you feeling burnt out.
—Mark Travers, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025
This sets the stage for the recurring theme of the season, with overambitious district attorney Harvey Dent (Diedrich Bader) running for mayor, putting him in conflict, but maybe also in cahoots, with Thorne.
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 30 July 2024
The company made decisions on hiring and new products last year that were overambitious, Mickos said.
—James Rundle, WSJ, 16 Aug. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Overambitious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overambitious. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
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