1
as in ambitious
having a strong desire for personal advancement
this job is a great opportunity for some go-getting young person
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in aggressive
having or showing a bold forcefulness in the pursuit of a goal
a determined newcomer who made a go-getting bid for the governorship
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in ambition
eager desire for personal advancement
with all his go-getting, he should move quickly up the corporate ladder
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of go-getting
Marta Balaga, Variety, 15 Aug. 2025
Noun
The future of much of African filmmaking will depend on the success of such go-getting figures.
—Marta Balaga, Variety, 15 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for go-getting
Adjective
-
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
-
Fiscal ambitions have since become more ambitious.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
2 May 2026
Adjective
-
Buxton knows the plan — a fighting retreat that saves ownership money but still gives the team the chance to regroup and compete for a division title with strong starting pitching and an aggressive, small-ball approach from a young, athletic lineup.—
John Shipley,
Twin Cities,
4 May 2026
-
Iran signaled an aggressive response to this latest bid to break its stranglehold over the strait, which has left global shipping at an effective standstill and sent energy prices spiraling.—
Yuliya Talmazan,
NBC news,
4 May 2026
Noun
-
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has outlined ambitions to position Japan as a global leader in drone utilization.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Apr. 2026
-
At the Capitol, protesters carried placards supporting Fair Districts Amendments, which voters approved in 2010, and denouncing the governor’s scheme as a bad faith gerrymandering scheme that only benefitted his and other Republican leaders’ ambitions.—
Jeffrey Schweers,
The Orlando Sentinel,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
In the original, which opened in 2006 and grossed $326 million worldwide, Hathaway’s Andy is an aspiring journalist who becomes the personal assistant to Streep’s Miranda.—
Zack Sharf,
Variety,
28 Apr. 2026
-
To each of these aspiring writers, Meredith sent a brochure advertising his services.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
For those who love to entertain, summer hosting season is an opportunity to dabble in new outdoor furniture arrangements, tablescaping trends, and adventurous seasonal recipes.—
Morgan Goldberg,
Architectural Digest,
1 May 2026
-
The Joy Park water features will also be turned on for even more adventurous fun.—
Laura Daily,
Denver Post,
1 May 2026
Adjective
-
The second-youngest of eight children, Gordy hailed from an enterprising Detroit family with Georgia plantation roots, including several sisters who had carved successful business paths.—
Brian McCollum,
USA Today,
15 Apr. 2026
-
All Stanford students are ambitious, but many of the most enterprising among them drop out.—
Ronan Farrow,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
This may explain why Suzanna’s mother is a somewhat indistinct presence in the novel (at least compared with fierce Sylvie)—patient, even serene behind bars, more eager to talk about her daughter’s future than about her own future, let alone her troubled past.—
James Wood,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
The Bloomberg-era street transformations weren’t popular at first, and pushback was fierce.—
Jonathan Timm,
New York Daily News,
3 May 2026
Adjective
-
Possibly this was the case at élite law schools in the nineteen-nineties, where even the most obdurate deans could not afford to ignore their militant students indefinitely.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
Iraqi Kurds and Iraqi forces helped defeat the militant group in Iraq.—
Jane Arraf,
NPR,
2 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Go-getting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/go-getting. Accessed 7 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
