Synonyms of ambitious

ambitious

adjective

am-ˈbi-shəs 

1

as in aspiring

having a strong desire for personal advancement

an ambitious child actor and his even more ambitious mother, who will do anything to get him in commercials

Synonyms & Similar Words

• aspiring
• energetic
• ardent
• eager
• diligent
• hard-driving
• aggressive
• motivated
• go-getting
• dynamic
• pushing
• industrious
• self-seeking
• enterprising
• hungry
• avid
• spirited
• venturesome
• determined
• competitive
• scrappy
• impassioned
• vigorous
• overambitious
• opportunistic
• animated
• venturous
• hustling
• lively
• assertive
• driving
• pretentious
• pushy
• competing
• rival
• gung ho
• high-flying
• keen
• rivalrous
• raring
• self-assertive

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• unambitious
• disinterested
• indifferent
• uninterested
• apathetic
• unenthusiastic
• casual
• unexcited
• easygoing
• ambitionless
• lackadaisical
• lazy
• halfhearted
• tepid
• lukewarm
• sluggish
• lethargic
• shiftless
• listless
• uneager
• spiritless
• unassertive
• lazyish
• unaggressive

2

as in aggressive

having or showing a bold forcefulness in the pursuit of a goal

cleaning up the vacant lot in one weekend was an ambitious undertaking

Synonyms & Similar Words

• aggressive
• adventurous
• fierce
• enterprising
• vigorous
• energetic
• militant
• assertive
• confident
• high-pressure
• daring
• in-your-face
• pushy
• go-getting
• bold
• self-assertive
• dynamic
• overambitious
• warlike
• pugnacious
• belligerent
• combative
• bellicose
• contentious
• determined
• self-asserting
• strenuous
• quarrelsome
• emphatic
• adventuresome
• truculent
• audacious
• impudent
• argumentative
• venturous
• gutsy
• hustling
• domineering
• disputatious
• venturesome
• gladiatorial
• bumptious
• insolent
• feisty
• cocky
• cheeky
• obtrusive
• trigger-happy
• unapologetic
• hyperaggressive
• overconfident
• brassy
• emboldened
• dashing
• presumptuous
• gung ho
• discordant
• brash
• scrappy
• cocksure
• dominating
• forward
• overbearing
• unyielding
• magisterial
• imperious
• unsubdued
• bare-knuckles
• bare-knuckled
• bare-knuckle
• lordly

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• unambitious
• low-pressure
• unassertive
• unaggressive
• easygoing
• relaxed
• nonassertive
• amenable
• compliant
• docile
• tractable
• deferential
• ambitionless
• submissive
• unenterprising
• modest
• timid
• acquiescent
• passive
• humble
• yielding
• mild
• resigned
• quiet
• shrinking
• shy
• laid-back
• subdued
• meek
• unobtrusive
• bashful
• diffident
• lowly
• reserved
• retiring
• servile
• mousy
• demure
• obsequious
• subservient
• slavish
• grovelling
• cringing
• groveling
• mousey
• overmodest
• cowering

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of ambitious

In an ambitious and long-overdue renovation, the architect Annabelle Selldorf attempted to harmonize with the Frick’s Classical aesthetic while asserting her Modernist credentials. —Martin Filler, The New York Review of Books, 24 Apr. 2025

Even Imperial folks are feeling palpable unease, including ambitious couple Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) and Syril Karn (Kyle Soller). —Brian Truitt, USA Today, 23 Apr. 2025

The Line, the most ambitious piece of Neom, was unveiled as a pair of parallel 500-meter-tall skyscrapers stretching through the desert, pitched as an ultradense urban core housing all infrastructure within a tiny 200-meter width. —Ross Rosenfeld, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Apr. 2025

Dreams came true on Boylston Street as tens of thousands of ambitious and determined runners conquered the Boston Marathon, crossing the finish line after the 26.2-mile trek from Hopkinton. —Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald, 22 Apr. 2025