different between ambitious vs highflier

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /æm?b??.?s/
• Rhymes: -???s

Adjective

ambitious (comparative ambitiouser or more ambitious, superlative ambitiousest or most ambitious)

1. (of a person or their character) Having or showing ambition; wanting a lot of power, honor, respect, superiority, or other distinction.
   • 1891, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Man with the Twisted Lip,"

     As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the country, and eventually married, without anyone having a suspicion as to my real occupation.

2. (followed by "of" or the infinitive) 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 and attacking opposition.

   • 1864, Henry David Thoreau, The Maine Woods

     We were soon in the midst of the rapids, which were more swift and tumultuous than any we had poled up, and had turned to the side of the stream for the purpose of warping, when the boatmen, who felt some pride in their skill, and were ambitious to do something more than usual

3. Resulting from, characterized by, or indicating, ambition

   Synonyms: showy, aspiring

4. Hard to achieve.

Antonyms

• nonambitious
• unambitious

Derived terms

• ambitiously
• ambitiousness
• overambitious
• underambitious

Related terms

• ambition

Translations

References

• Webster, Noah (1828) , “ambitious”, in An American Dictionary of the English Language
• ambitious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• “ambitious” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "ambitious" in the Wordsmyth Dictionary-Thesaurus (Wordsmyth, 2002)
• "ambitious" in Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
• “ambitious”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

English

Alternative forms

• high flier, high-flier, high flyer, high-flyer, highflyer

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ha??fla??(?)/

Noun

highflier (plural highfliers)

1. A person who or a type of aircraft that flies at high elevations.
2. (idiomatic) An ambitious person, especially one who takes risks or has an extravagant lifestyle.
   • c. 1711, Jonathan Swift, Some Remarks Upon A Pamphlet, Entitl'd, A Letter To The Seven Lords Of The Committee, Appointed To Examine Gregg

     under the appellations of Tory, Jacobite, highflier, and other cant words

3. (fishing) A vertical pole used in commercial fishing to locate the beginning and end of a long fishing line.