Ambitious

How to spell ambitious

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce ambitious

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ambitious mean?

1. adjectiveHaving or showing a strong desire to achieve success, wealth, or distinction.

Ambitious in a sentence

• The new manager is ambitious and wants the team to double its sales.

• Their ambitious plan to renovate the whole building in six months impressed the board.

Where does ambitious come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the Latin ambitiosus, meaning 'eager for honour or favour', which was built on ambitio, the noun for canvassing or going round to seek votes. That noun in turn came from the verb ambire, literally 'to go around', formed from ambi- ('around') and ire ('to go'); in ancient Rome candidates would literally walk around the city soliciting support, which is exactly the picture behind the spelling. English took the word in through Old French ambicious during the late 1300s, at first carrying a faintly negative whiff of grasping self-promotion before softening into today's admiring sense of someone with strong drive. The same ambire root also gives us 'ambit', the scope or range of something, and the literal 'going round' idea survives there too. The tricky spelling lies in the ending: the sound is 'shus' but it is written -tious, a pattern shared with cautious and superstitious.

How the word is built

• ambit- (from ambire: to go around, canvass for votes)
• -ious (full of, adjective suffix)