ambitious
/æmˈbɪʃ.əs/adjective
ambitious is spelled A-M-B-I-T-I-O-U-S: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 8.9 times per million words in written English, the 7,672nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, ambitious means “Having or showing ambition; wanting a lot of power, honor, respect, superiority, or other distinction” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ambitious?
| Letters | 9: A-M-B-I-T-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 8.9 times per million words; the 7,672nd 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 ambitious?
Ambitious appears 8.9 times per million words in written English, the 7,672nd 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 ambitious?
- US /æmˈbɪʃ.əs/
Ambitious 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-ambitious.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with ambitious?
10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as ambitious from its last stressed vowel (/ɪʃəs/):
- delicious
- fictitious
- nutritious
- superstitious
- auspicious
- pernicious
- judicious
- surreptitious
- bootylicious
- lubricious
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 ambitious
- ambitiouser comparative
- more ambitious comparative
- ambitiousest superlative
- most ambitious superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ambitious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having or showing ambition; wanting a lot of power, honor, respect, superiority, or other distinction.
an ambitious person
- 2
Very desirous.
30 June 2019, Sam Wallace in The Telegraph, Manchester United must shape Aaron Wan-Bissaka into a £50m all-rounder - but there is no hiding place at Old Trafford Now he is joining a club ambitious to return to a model of dominating games an
- 3
Resulting from, characterized by, or indicating, ambition.
an ambitious project
- 4
Hard to achieve.
an ambitious goal
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ambitious in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ambitieux |
| German | ehrgeizig, ambitioniert , aufstrebend |
| Portuguese | ambicioso |
| Spanish | ambicioso |
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.
Where does ambitious come from?
From Middle English ambitious, from Middle French ambitieus, from Latin ambitiosus, from ambitio; see ambition. Compare with French ambitieux. By surface analysis, ambit + -ious.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).