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Aspiring vs Ambitious - What's the difference?

aspiring | ambitious |

Ambitious is a synonym of aspiring.



As adjectives the difference between aspiring and ambitious

is that aspiring is hoping to become while ambitious is possessing, or controlled by ambition; greatly or inordinately desirous of power, honor, office, superiority, or distinction.

As a verb aspiring

is present participle of lang=en.

As a noun aspiring

is aspiration.

aspiring

English

Adjective

(head)
  • hoping to become
    • Aspiring pop stars lined up for hours just to audition.

    Synonyms

    * ambitious * wannabe * would-be

    Verb

    (head)

    • Noun

    (en noun)
  • aspiration

    • Anagrams

    * *

    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)