ambition
/æmˈbɪʃ.ən/noun, verb
ambition is spelled A-M-B-I-T-I-O-N: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 8.1 times per million words in written English, the 8,146th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ambition means “Eager or inordinate desire for some object that confers distinction, as preferment, honor, superiority, political power, or fame; desire to…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ambition is ambitions.
How many letters and syllables are in ambition?
| Letters | 8: A-M-B-I-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 8.1 times per million words; the 8,146th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is ambition?
Ambition appears 8.1 times per million words in written English, the 8,146th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ambition?
- UK /æmˈbɪʃ.ən/
- US /æmˈbɪʃ.ən/
- US [ɛəmˈbɪʃ.n̩]
Ambition has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ambition.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with ambition?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as ambition from its last stressed vowel (/ɪʃən/):
- position
- competition
- opposition
- permission
- composition
- acquisition
- coalition
- physician
- politician
- admission
- nutrition
- expedition
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of ambition
- ambitions plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- ambitioning participle, present
- ambitioned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ambition mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Eager or inordinate desire for some object that confers distinction, as preferment, honor, superiority, political power, or fame; desire to distinguish one's self from other people.
My daughter, Johanna, wants to be a firefighter very much. She has a lot of ambition.
- 2
An object of an ardent desire.
My ambition is to own a helicopter.
- 3
A desire, as in (sense 1), for another person to achieve these things.
- 4
A personal quality similar to motivation, not necessarily tied to a single goal.
- 5
obsoleteThe act of going about to solicit or obtain an office, or any other object of desire; canvassing.
verb
- 1
To seek after ambitiously or eagerly; to covet.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ambition in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense desire:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.