Antonyms for ambition
æmˈbɪʃ ənam·bi·tion

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.1 / 7 votes

1. ambition

   Aspiration is the desire for excellence, pure and simple. Ambition, literally a going around to solicit votes, has primary reference to the award or approval of others, and is the eager desire of power, fame, or something deemed great and eminent, and viewed as a worthy prize. The prizes of aspiration are virtue, nobility, skill, or other high qualities. The prizes of ambition are advancement, fame, honor, and the like. There is a noble and wise or an ignoble, selfish, and harmful ambition. Emulation is not so much to win any excellence or success for itself as to equal or surpass other persons. There is such a thing as a noble emulation, when those we would equal or surpass are noble, and the means we would use worthy. But, at the highest, emulation is inferior as a motive to aspiration, which seeks the high quality or character for its own sake, not with reference to another. Competition is the striving for something that is sought by another at the same time. Emulation regards the abstract, competition the concrete; rivalry is the same in essential meaning with competition, but differs in the nature of the objects contested for, which, in the case of rivalry, are usually of the nobler sort and less subject to direct gaging, measurement, and rule. We speak of competition in business, emulation in scholarship, rivalry in love, politics, etc.; emulation of excellence, success, achievement; competition for a prize; rivalry between persons or nations. Competition may be friendly, rivalry is commonly hostile. Opposition is becoming a frequent substitute for competition in business language; it implies that the competitor is an opponent and hinderer.

   Antonyms:
   carelessness, contentment, humility, indifference, satisfaction

   Synonyms:
   aspiration, competition, emulation, opposition, rivalry

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.3 / 4 votes

1. ambition

   Antonyms:
   indifference, inappetency, contentment, moderation

   Synonyms:
   aspiration, emulation, appetition

Matched Categories

1. • Desire

Princeton's WordNetRate these antonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. ambition, aspiration, dreamnoun

   a cherished desire

   "his ambition is to own his own business"

   Synonyms:
   breathing in, aspiration, inhalation, inspiration, ambitiousness, pipe dream, dream, intake, dreaming

2. ambition, ambitiousnessverb

   a strong drive for success

   Synonyms:
   ambitiousness, dream, aspiration

3. ambitionverb

   have as one's ambition

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ambitionnoun

   Synonyms:
   aspiration, emulation

How to use ambition in a sentence?

1. Greg Waldron:

   Given the effort and prestige China is pouring into the C919, getting FAA or EASA certification is a definite requirement both for the image of the program and the ambition to garner foreign sales, we don’t know if and when the Chinese authority will apply to us for a certification.

2. Sir Richard Francis Burton:

   The dearest ambition of a slave is not liberty, but to have a slave of his own.

3. Cory Gardner:

   In conversations I’ve had with allies in the region, nobody believes that [ Iran has ] given up their nuclear weapons ambition.

4. David Turner:

   Ron DeSantis has put Ron DeSantis donors and Ron DeSantis political ambition before Florida children, and Republicans across the country want to follow his lead, if Florida Republicans think Florida Republicans's the best way to recover from Covid, they are going to face a reckoning from voters in 2021 and 2022.

5. Aloo Denish Obiero:

   Vision fuels ambition; action transforms vision into reality.

How to pronounce ambition?

How to say ambition in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency