aspire
Syllables: as·pireUK/əˈspaɪə(ɹ)//əˈspaɪɚ/
aspire verb: to have a strong desire or ambition to achieve something.
Verb
aspire (third-person singular simple present aspires, present participle aspiring, simple past and past participle aspired)
- To have a strong desire or ambition to achieve something.
- to aspire to / for / after / to do something; to aspire that something happens
- He aspires to become a successful doctor.
- To go as high as, to reach the top of (something).
- Thus ſhall my heart be ſtil combinde with thine, / Untill our bodies turne to Elements: / And both our ſoules aſpire celeſtiall thrones.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
- Mercutio’s dead! / That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds,c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- To move upward; to be very tall.
- In midſt of which a ſumptuous Temple ſtands, / That threats the ſtarres with her aſpiring toppe.1589–1592 (date written), Ch[ristopher] Marl[owe], The Tragicall History of D. Faustus. […], London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Thomas Bushell, published 1604, →OCLC, signature D, verso
- As they descended, they saw […] one of the grand passes of the Pyreneáes into Spain, gleaming with its battlements and towers to the splendour of the setting rays, yellow tops of woods colouring the steeps below, while far above aspired the snowy points of the mountains, still reflecting a rosy hue.1794, Ann Radcliffe, chapter 4, in The Mysteries of Udolpho, volume 1, London: G.G. and J. Robinson, page 116
aspire meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
aspire in Tamil
- மனவிருப்பம், அவாவு, விழை, ஆர்வத்துடன் விரும்பு
aspire in Urdu
- آرزو رکھنا, شوق ہونا
aspire in Bengali
- আকাঙ্ক্ষা করা, লক্ষ্য রাখা
aspire in Malayalam
- തീവ്രമായി ആശിക്കുക, അഭിലഷിക്കുക, കാംക്ഷിക്കുക
More languagesFewer languages
- aspire in Kannada
- ಅಭಿಲಾಷೆಹೊಂದು, ಅಪೇಕ್ಷೆಪಡು
- aspire in Gujarati
- આકાંક્ષા કરવી
Examples of aspire in a sentence
- We aspire that the world will be a better place.
- 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...
- 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...
- 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:
- 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:
Synonyms of aspire
Forms of aspire
| third-person singular present | aspires |
|---|---|
| present participle | aspiring |
| past participle | aspired |
| past | aspired |
Origin of aspire
From Middle English aspiren, from Old French aspirer, from Latin aspīrō (“breathe on; approach; desire”).
Words formed from aspire
Words that rhyme with aspire
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- choir
- desire
- esquire
- inspire
- tire
- acquire
- admire
- dire
- empire
- respire
- sire
- transpire
- trier
- dryer
- friar
- fryer
- gyre
- lyre
- mire
- misfire
- require
- underfire
- bemire
- buyer
- conspire
- inquire
- overfire
- perspire
- quire
- tyre
- attire
- briar
- crier
- higher
- lier
- overtire
- Pryor
- pyre
- re-retire
- retrochoir
- rewire
- supplier
- suspire
- underwire
- unretire
- afire
- byre
- drier
Questions about aspire
- What does aspire mean?
- Aspire means to have a strong desire or ambition to achieve something.
- What is aspire in Tamil?
- Aspire in Tamil is மனவிருப்பம், அவாவு, விழை. See Aspire meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use aspire in a sentence?
- We aspire that the world will be a better place.
- What part of speech is aspire?
- Aspire is a verb.
- How do you pronounce aspire?
- Aspire is pronounced /əˈspaɪə(ɹ)/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of aspire?
- The past tense of aspire is aspired.
Words near aspire in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: aspire (page history and authors); aspire (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); aspire (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); aspire (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); aspire (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); aspire (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); aspire (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-aspire.ogg.
Cite this entry: “aspire.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/aspire. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.