different between covetous vs ambitious

English

Etymology

From Middle English coveitous, from Anglo-Norman *cuveitus, from Medieval Latin as if *cupiditosus, from Latin cupiditas (“desire”); see covet.

Pronunciation

• enPR: k?v'?t-?s, IPA^(key): /?k?v?t?s/

Adjective

covetous (comparative more covetous, superlative most covetous)

1. Extremely keen or desirous, especially to obtain and possess something belonging to someone else; avaricious.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:greedy

Derived terms

• covetousness
• covetously

Related terms

• covet

Translations

Further reading

• covetous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• covetous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

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.