Aspire Meaning
/əˈspaɪə(ɹ)/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbTo have a strong desire or ambition to achieve something.
verbTo go as high as, to reach the top of (something).
Sentence Examples
I aspire to fame.
The basic question is, what vision do you aspire to?
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
Many young athletes ____ to compete in the Olympic Games someday.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Many young people ____ to become famous singers and actors someday.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English aspiren, from Old French aspirer, from Latin aspīrō (“breathe on; approach; desire”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to, / That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin, / More pangs and fears than wars or women have:"
— 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
"Aspiring to be Gods, if Angels fell, / Aspiring to be Angels, Men rebell:"
— 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC, page 14, lines 131-132:
"This match, to which you have the presumption to aspire, can never take place."
— 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter 14, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 246:
"We were maids and farmers, handymen and washerwomen, and anything higher that we aspired to was farcical and presumptuous."
— 1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 23, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, New York: Random House, pages 177–178:
"His own desire repulsed him. Though if he could not aspire to purity, then he was sufficiently aware of what his mother and certain others might think, not to give in to baseness."
— 2014, Damon Galgut, chapter 2, in Arctic Summer,, London: Atlantic Books, page 48:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Many young athletes ____ to compete in the Olympic Games someday.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Many young people ____ to become famous singers and actors someday.