Nonambitious

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Having little to no drive for success or advancement
2. Displaying a general apathy towards achieving goals or ambitions
3. Showing a low level of interest in pursuing success or personal advancement

Etymology: "Nonambitious" is simply "non-" attached to "ambitious," a combination English has used freely for centuries to mean "not having the quality named by the base word." The base word "ambitious" comes from "ambition," which traces back through Old French to the Latin "ambitio," a term for going around canvassing for votes, from "ambire," to go about. The original sense of canvassing and courting favor gave way over time to the sense of a driving desire for success or advancement. The prefix "non-" comes from Latin "non," meaning "not." English has long attached it to existing words to create negated forms, so "nonambitious" describes someone or something without that drive, neither aspiring to advancement nor seeking to rise. The form is a plain, transparent compound rather than a coinage with a single known inventor, so its meaning follows directly from its two parts.

Synonyms: unambitious, complacent, mediocre, content, passive

Antonyms: ambitious, driven, aspirational, motivated, enterprising