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Serious vs Ambitious - What's the difference?

serious | ambitious | Related terms |

Serious is a related term of ambitious.


As adjectives the difference between serious and ambitious

is that serious is without humor or expression of happiness; grave in manner or disposition; earnest; thoughtful; solemn while ambitious is possessing, or controlled by ambition; greatly or inordinately desirous of power, honor, office, superiority, or distinction.

serious

English

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • Without humor or expression of happiness; grave in manner or disposition; earnest; thoughtful; solemn.
    • It was a surprise to see the captain, who had always seemed so serious , laugh so heartily.
  • Important; weighty; not trifling; leaving no room for play; needing great attention; critical.
    • This is a serious problem. We'll need our best experts.
  • Really intending what is said; being in earnest; not jesting or deceiving; meaningful.
    • After all these years, we're finally getting serious attention.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Antonyms

    * trifling, unimportant * (intending what is said) jesting

    Derived terms

    * srs (abbreviation) * dead serious * seriously * seriousness * serious-minded * serious-mindedly * serious-mindedness

    External links

    * *

    Statistics

    *

    ambitious

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Possessing, or controlled by ambition; greatly or inordinately desirous of power, honor, office, superiority, or distinction.
  • * 1891 , , "The Man with the Twisted Lip,"
    • As I grew richer I grew more ambitious , took a house in the country, and eventually married, without anyone having a suspicion as to my real occupation.
  • Strongly desirous—followed by "of" or the infinitive; as, ambitious to be or to do something.
  • Springing from, characterized by, or indicating, ambition; showy; aspiring.
  • Hard to achieve.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
    • , page=13 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist) , title= Ideas coming down the track , passage=A “moving platform” scheme

    Usage notes

    * Said of people, projects, plans, goals, etc.

    Derived terms

    * ambitiously * ambitiousness * overambitious

    Related terms

    * ambition

    References

    * * * * * " ambitious" in the Wordsmyth Dictionary-Thesaurus (Wordsmyth, 2002) * " ambitious" in Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, 2007) * " ambitious" in Compact Oxford English Dictionary , (Oxford University Press, 2007)