ambitious

/æmˈbɪʃ.əs/

//æmˈbɪʃ.əs// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"ambitious" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ambitious” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,644. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,644
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Having or showing ambition; wanting a lot of power, honor, respect, superiority, or other distinction.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ambitious · ambitious · English

ambitious · rank #7,644 · 12 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,644
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH ag

Nearest frequency peer: ag (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “ambitious”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “ambitious” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

ambitious vs ambition
78% similar
ambitious vs ambiguous
78% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for ambitious
PropertyValue
Headwordambitious
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/æmˈbɪʃ.əs/
Letters9
Frequency rank#7,644
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “ambitious”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).ambitiouslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “ag” (#7,643), “amid” (#7,645), “advocates” (#7,642). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “ambitious” is #7,644. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around ambitious (IPA /æmˈbɪʃ.əs/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #7,644 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for ambitious, with forms such as "abmitious", "ambbitious", and "ambiitous". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "ambition", "ambiguous", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English ambitious, from Middle French ambitieus, from Latin ambitiosus, from ambitio; see ambition. Compare with French ambitieux. The correct English form is ambitious, spelled A-M-B-I-T-I-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Having or showing ambition; wanting a lot of power, honor, respect, superiority, or other distinction.
  2. 2
    Very desirous
  3. 3
    Resulting from, characterized by, or indicating, ambition
  4. 4
    Hard to achieve.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how ambitious appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. an ambitious person
  2. someone's ambitious nature

Etymology

From Middle English ambitious, from Middle French ambitieus, from Latin ambitiosus, from ambitio; see ambition. Compare with French ambitieux.

Antonyms

nonambitiousunambitious

This word in other languages

ambicioso(Español)ambitieux(Français)ehrgeizig(Deutsch)ambicioso(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abmitious
  • ambbitious
  • ambiitous
  • ambitiosu
  • ambitiouss
  • ambitiuos
  • ambitoius
  • ambittious
  • ambtiious
  • amibtious
  • ammbitious
  • mabitious

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ambitious - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

abmitious2ambbitious1ambiitous2ambitiosu2ambitiouss1ambitiuos2ambitoius2ambittious1
Edit distance from "ambitious"

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 "ambitious"?
"ambitious" is spelled A-M-B-I-T-I-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /æmˈbɪʃ.əs/.
What does "ambitious" mean?
As an adjective, "ambitious" means: Having or showing ambition; wanting a lot of power, honor, respect, superiority, or other distinction.
What words are commonly confused with "ambitious"?
"ambitious" is commonly confused with "ambition", "ambiguous". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ambitious"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ambitious" is /æmˈbɪʃ.əs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "ambitious"?
From Middle English ambitious, from Middle French ambitieus, from Latin ambitiosus, from ambitio; see ambition. Compare with French ambitieux. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ambitious", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

advocates#7,642appealing#7,647underwear#7,632collision#7,662

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

accessories12 variantswelcomed12 variantsconsumed12 variantscorrected12 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list