Overambition

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An excessive desire for achievement that drives one beyond reasonable limits
2. A strong aspiration that often leads to setting unrealistic goals or expectations
3. The pursuit of aspirations that are overly ambitious, potentially resulting in frustration or failure

Etymology: "Overambition" is a plain English compound: the prefix "over-", meaning "excessively" or "beyond the proper measure," attached to "ambition." The prefix is native, descending from Old English "ofer," which carried the sense of "above" or "across" and still survives in words like "overcome" and "overlook." The sense of excess is what makes the prefix useful here. The base word has a more surprising past. "Ambition" comes from Latin "ambitio," which literally meant "a going around," especially going around voters to solicit their support. Roman candidates for office went about canvassing, so the word's earliest sense was a kind of political campaigning, and it was the Latin noun "ambitiō" that passed through Old French "ambition" into Middle English. Only later did it come to mean an inner drive for advancement. Put together, "overambition" describes that drive pushed past what is sensible. The Latin root is the one that makes the compound's meaning vivid: the old image is of a candidate circling the forum too many times, working the crowd beyond any useful purpose.

Synonyms: excessive ambition