MEANING
To desire and strive toward a significant achievement, position, or ideal.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- aspire to leadership
- aspire to write well
On the page
She aspired to write the account no one in the family wanted preserved.
He aspired to leadership but disliked the decisions it required.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- aspire
- Past tense
- aspired
- Past participle
- aspired
- Present participle
- aspiring
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- aspire
- Present continuous
- am/is/are aspiring
- Present perfect
- have/has aspired
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been aspiring
- Past
- aspired
- Past continuous
- was/were aspiring
- Past perfect
- had aspired
- Past perfect continuous
- had been aspiring
- Future
- will aspire
- Future continuous
- will be aspiring
- Future perfect
- will have aspired
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been aspiring
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: aspire; aspires; aspired; aspired; aspiring Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: aspires.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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