ambition
/æmˈbɪʃ.ən/
"ambition" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ambition” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,116 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #8,116
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - 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.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ambition |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /æmˈbɪʃ.ən/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #8,116 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ambition” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ambition is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /æmˈbɪʃ.ən/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,116 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for ambition, with forms such as "abmition", "ambbition", and "ambiiton". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "audition", "ambitious", "addition", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts? Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰider. Proto-Italic *amβi Latin ambi- Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- Proto-Indo-European *h₁éyti Proto-Italic *ejō Proto-Italic *eō Latin e… The correct English form is ambition, spelled A-M-B-I-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1Eager 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.
- 2An object of an ardent desire.
- 3A desire, as in (sense 1), for another person to achieve these things.
- 4A personal quality similar to motivation, not necessarily tied to a single goal.
- 5The act of going about to solicit or obtain an office, or any other object of desire; canvassing.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts? Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰider. Proto-Italic *amβi Latin ambi- Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- Proto-Indo-European *h₁éyti Proto-Italic *ejō Proto-Italic *eō Latin eō Latin ambiō Proto-Indo-European *-tisder. Proto-Italic *-tjō Latin -tiō Latin ambitiōder. Old French ambitionbor. Middle English ambicioun English ambition From Middle English ambicioun, from Old French ambition, from Latin ambitiō (“ambition, a striving for favor, literally 'a going around', especially of candidates for office in Rome soliciting votes”), from ambiō (“I go around, solicit votes”). See ambient, issue.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: abmition,ambbition,ambiiton,ambision,ambitino,ambitionn,ambitoin,ambittion,ambtiion,amibtion,ammbition,mabition
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ambition - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "ambition"?
What does "ambition" mean?
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Using “ambition”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-M-B-I-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /æmˈbɪʃ.ən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “audition” - see the side-by-side comparison. ambition vs audition
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.