aspire

verb

as·​pire ə-ˈspī(-ə)r How to pronounce aspire (audio)
aspired; aspiring
Synonyms of aspire

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 of aspire

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The film slowly relates that the aspiring rapper and superfan ingratiated himself into the band’s circles, flying to New York multiple times as a teenager for the purpose. — Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 24 Oct. 2026 Llusia-Lindh immediately cut out the middlemen, went directly to factories and aspired to make a luxury product while keeping a lid on prices — and giving back. — Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 23 Oct. 2026 The blog got picked up by a larger Brooklyn real estate website, Brownstoner, and developed a dedicated online following of architecture enthusiasts and aspiring DIYers. — Sophie Caldwell,valentina Duarte, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2026 Turturro’s title character could be seen as a hero for those aspiring to an analog life. — Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for aspire

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of aspire was in the 14th century

Rhymes for aspire

See All Rhymes for aspire

Browse Nearby Words

aspirator
aspire
aspirer
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Aspire.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aspire. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

aspire

verb
as·​pire ə-ˈspī(ə)r How to pronounce aspire (audio)
aspired; aspiring
: to work to get something high or great
aspirer noun
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All