Aspiration
What it means
A strong hope or ambition directed toward a meaningful future achievement.
Reach for it when naming a valued direction before the outcome is secured
Her aspiration is to design homes that use less energy.
Words to choose between 7
| everyday | |
|---|---|
| warm |
|
| professional | |
| formal | |
| literary |
-
everyday
Fits when the desired outcome is specific and actionable
Careful A goal is more concrete and time-bound than many aspirations.
-
everyday
Fits when positive desire is honest despite uncertainty
Careful Hope can be passive, while aspiration usually points effort in a direction.
-
warm
Fits when the hope is personally vivid and emotionally important
Careful A dream may remain fanciful without commitment or a workable path.
-
professional
aim
Fits when the intended result guides present action
Careful Aim can be modest and immediate, lacking aspiration's emotional importance.
-
professional
Fits when determination to achieve and advance is prominent
Careful Ambition can center status or competition rather than a meaningful ideal.
-
formal
Fits when a guiding standard matters more than personal advancement
Careful An ideal may be impossible to attain and is not always an individual ambition.
-
literary
calling
Fits when the goal feels like a deep vocational purpose
Careful Calling adds destiny or duty that an ordinary aspiration does not claim.
Opposites 3
- apathy
- aimlessness
- resignation
Common phrases 4
-
career aspiration
Her career aspiration is to lead an accessible public library.
-
lifelong aspiration
Publishing the field guide fulfilled a lifelong aspiration.
-
high aspiration
A high aspiration becomes useful when paired with a next step.
-
aspiration to serve
His aspiration to serve shaped the courses he chose.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Vealhurl, Southern England accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Updated