Definition

1. Noun:
   • Ambition: A strong desire to achieve something significant, such as success, power, or fame. This is the core and most common meaning.
   • Overreaching ambition / Aspiration: A desire or wish that is exceptionally large, often exceeding one's current capabilities or realistic possibilities, and may be difficult to attain.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Cô ấy có tham vọng trở thành giám đốc điều hành. (She has the ambition to become a CEO.)
  • Tham vọng chinh phục thị trường quốc tế của họ rất lớn. (Their ambition to conquer the international market is vast.)
  • Đó là một tham vọng khó có thể thực hiện được. (That is an ambition that is difficult to achieve.)

Advanced Usage

• The word can carry a neutral or positive connotation when describing a strong, driving goal. It can also carry a slightly negative connotation when implying an excessive, unrealistic, or overly greedy desire.
  • Hắn ta bị tham vọng quyền lực làm mờ mắt. (He was blinded by his ambition for power.)

Variants and Related Words

• Tham vọng hóa (v): to aspire to, to aim ambitiously for (a less common verbal form).
  • Công ty tham vọng hóa thị trường toàn cầu. (The company aspires to the global market.)

Synonyms

• Ambition: A strong desire for achievement.
• Aspiration: A hope or ambition of achieving something.
• Drive: Determination to achieve something.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Nuôi tham vọng: to harbor/nurse an ambition.

  • Anh ấy nuôi tham vọng viết một cuốn tiểu thuyết vĩ đại. (He harbors the ambition to write a great novel.)

• Tham vọng ngầm: a hidden/ulterior ambition.

  • Sự tử tế của hắn ẩn chứa một tham vọng ngầm. (His kindness concealed a hidden ambition.)

noun

1. ambition