as in ambitious
having a strong desire for personal advancement
an aspiring young pianist eager to win the prestigious competition
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in planning
to have in mind as a purpose or goal
aspire to great deeds, and you have a better chance of doing good deeds
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in rising
to move or extend upward
a tower aspiring towards the heavens
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of aspiring
Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2026
Leventhal applauded the staff at the DCPA for helping set up such an experience for an aspiring professional musician.
—Dillon Thomas, CBS News, 17 Apr. 2026
Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 22 Apr. 2026
The programme includes 1,000 VOD specialists being retrained in planning and post-production in partnership with Netflix, and a flagship mentoring initiative targeting 300 aspiring creatives aged 19 to 34.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 21 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for aspiring
Adjective
An aspiring author had sent Hoover their manuscript, also copying a fraudulent email impersonating Hoover on the email chain.
—Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2026
Leventhal applauded the staff at the DCPA for helping set up such an experience for an aspiring professional musician.
—Dillon Thomas, CBS News, 17 Apr. 2026
Verb
Set in the late 1990s, the pic based on Gavin Bain’s autobiography of the same name (later reissued as Straight Outta Scotland) follows Bain and Billy Boyd, aspiring musicians whose ambitions were dismissed because of their Scottish accents.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 22 Apr. 2026
The programme includes 1,000 VOD specialists being retrained in planning and post-production in partnership with Netflix, and a flagship mentoring initiative targeting 300 aspiring creatives aged 19 to 34.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 21 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for aspiring
Recent Examples of Synonyms for aspiring
Adjective
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In the wake of the Para Site retrospective came a wave of new opportunities and invitations to work at an increasingly ambitious scale, including a commission for the M+ Facade, a 360-foot-wide harbor-facing LED screen on the side of the Hong Kong museum.—
Pauline J. Yao,
Artforum,
2 May 2026
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Fiscal ambitions have since become more ambitious.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
2 May 2026
Verb
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An hour before Hitchcock's execution, Texas is planning to put James Broadnax to death for the 2008 double murder of two Christian music producers in the Dallas suburb of Garland.—
Amanda Lee Myers,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2026
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Countries across the Gulf have arrested scores of people during the war, on charges ranging from posting images of wartime damage, to planning terrorist attacks with Iran.—
Dominic Dudley,
semafor.com,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Firefighters witnessed a rare ‘ash devil’ while battling the Trinity fire in San Bernardino County — a whirling column of hot ash and embers created when rising heat meets shifting winds.—
Blanca Begert,
Los Angeles Times,
3 May 2026
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Those on the left see rising costs as an opportunity to advance their big government agenda.—
Star Parker,
Boston Herald,
2 May 2026
Verb
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Prosecutors say that Allen tried to storm the dinner − where Vice President JD Vance and others from the administration were also in attendance − with multiple guns and knives, intending to kill high-ranking officials.—
Brendan Morrow,
USA Today,
3 May 2026
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From Stoll's perspective, Howard wasn't intending to kill his lover.—
Julia Moore,
PEOPLE,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
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New York — The tables are set, the cameras are waiting and some of today’s most stylish cultural figures are ascending the steps of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.—
Oscar Holland,
CNN Money,
4 May 2026
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That’s because ascending the Kardashev scale isn’t really a realistic goal—the scale is more a crude guide for thinking about how a technological civilization could grow and what its ultimate limits could be.—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
1 May 2026
Verb
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McGovern, who is thirty-nine, appeared in the courtroom looking trim, with a neat beard and the hint of a residual Emirati tan.—
Ed Caesar,
New Yorker,
30 Apr. 2026
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At the time of the move, Venable said the Sox were looking for an offensive boost behind the plate.—
LaMond Pope,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Archer-Daniels-Midland, the 125-year-old agricultural processor and food ingredient provider, has been climbing quietly and steadily the past 12 months.—
Carter Braxton Worth,
CNBC,
1 May 2026
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Becerra quickly began climbing in the polls, and is now one of the leading candidates.—
Seema Mehta,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
Verb
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Unlike Friday’s Oaks, where Ortiz had Always a Runner near the leaders before taking charge through the final turn and soaring past Meaning for a 1 1/4-length win, seizing the Derby required everything from jockey and mount.—
Gary B. Graves,
Chicago Tribune,
3 May 2026
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Together, its soaring arch and Prospect Park form Brooklyn’s answer to Washington Square.—
Jonathan Timm,
New York Daily News,
3 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Aspiring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/aspiring. Accessed 7 May. 2026.
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