aspire

verb

as·​pire ə-ˈspī(-ə)r 

aspired; aspiring

intransitive verb

1

: to seek to attain or accomplish a particular goal

She aspired to a career in medicine.

2

: ascend, soar

aspirer noun

Synonyms

• aim
• allow [chiefly Southern & Midland]
• calculate
• contemplate
• design
• go [chiefly Southern & Midland]
• intend
• look
• mean
• meditate
• plan
• propose
• purport
• purpose

Examples of aspire in a Sentence

aspire to great deeds, and you have a better chance of doing good deeds

a tower aspiring towards the heavens

Recent Examples on the Web

The ten men vying for the title of Mr. Christmas include a firefighter (Isaac Ramirez, 28), a former Navy rescue diver (Ezra Moreland, 31), and several working/aspiring actors. —EW.com, 29 Oct. 2024

The 10-year-old boy who was not identified in the lawsuit was an aspiring actor and rapper who had traveled with his parents from California for meetings with music industry representatives. —Samuel Burke, Fortune, 29 Oct. 2024

The grand openings, the marketing blitz around the new stores, an aggressive online sales push as well as a rapidly growing middle class that aspires to own Apple products boosted its annual India revenue to a record of $8 billion in the year through March. —Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune Asia, 29 Oct. 2024

Every team aspires to be the best, but the reality is only one team will win it all. —Lorrissa Horton, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French aspirer, from Latin aspirare, literally, to breathe upon, from ad- + spirare to breathe

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

aspire

verb

as·​pire ə-ˈspī(ə)r 

aspired; aspiring

: to work to get something high or great

aspirer noun