enterprising

adjective

en·​ter·​pris·​ing ˈen-tər-ˌprī-ziŋ How to pronounce enterprising (audio)
ˈen-tə-ˌprī-
: marked by an independent energetic spirit and by readiness to act
an enterprising young reporter

Examples of enterprising in a Sentence

As an enterprising young reporter, she covered many important stories. the company is claiming that there will be huge financial rewards for enterprising sales representatives
Recent Examples on the Web So my enterprising colleague John Wilkerson trekked up to Wilmington to give you an inside view on how a key judge viewed arguments in the first court test of the new Medicare drug price negotiation program. Rachel Cohrs Reprints, STAT, 1 Feb. 2024 And the enterprising young CEO behind it all Contributor Long before the pay-to-play world of influencers took hold of the fashion world, the ultimate compliment a brand could receive was to see its wares on a celebrity or tastemaker of the day. Molly Peck, USA TODAY, 12 Jan. 2024 A lot of the kudos should go to the enterprising Americans who created nearly 5.5 million new businesses last year—that’s another record—and to the countless hardworking Americans who have joined, or rejoined, the workforce since the pandemic relented. John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 5 Mar. 2024 Organizations seeking transformative success must go beyond traditional motivators to leverage the enterprising spirit of their high-performing employees. Rajshree Agarwal, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024 When all was said and done, Weschler and his enterprising young partner generated about $400 with his Beatles shots. Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press, 8 Feb. 2024 Kandi Burruss, the enterprising R&B diva who joined RHOA in season 2 in 2009, confirmed on the red carpet of the 2024 Grammy Awards that she's jumped the Bravo flagship. Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 4 Feb. 2024 In New York, at the turn of the twentieth century, some enterprising concessionaires paid restaurants thousands of dollars a year to run their coatrooms. Zach Helfand, The New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2023 When computers and graphics software first appeared on the market, the most enterprising artists adapted, incorporating those tools into their workflows. Eric Waller, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'enterprising.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1601, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of enterprising was in 1601

Dictionary Entries Near enterprising

Cite this Entry

“Enterprising.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enterprising. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

enterprising

adjective
en·​ter·​pris·​ing ˈent-ə(r)-ˌprī-ziŋ How to pronounce enterprising (audio)
: bold, active, and energetic in undertaking or experimenting

More from Merriam-Webster on enterprising

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