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ambĭtĭōsus , a, um, adj. ambitio.
I. (Very rare and mostly poet.) Going round, encompassing; poet., embracing, twining round: “lascivis hederis ambitiosior,Hor. C. 1, 36, 20 (cf.: “undique ambientibus ramis,Curt. 4, 7, 16).—Of a river, making circuits, having many windings: “Jordanes amnis ambitiosus,Plin. 5, 15, 15, § 71.— Of oratorical ornament, excessive, superfluous: “vir bonus ambitiosa recidet Ornamenta,Hor. A. P. 447.—
II. Transf.
A. That asks for a thing fawningly; esp., that solicits the favor, good-will, etc., of any one, in a good and bad sense, honor-loving, ambitious, courting favor; vain, vainglorious, conceited, etc.: “qui ita sit ambitiosus, ut omnes vos nosque cotidie persalutet,Cic. Fl. 18: “homo minime ambitiosus, minime in rogando molestus,id. Fam. 13, 1: “ne forte me in Graecos tam ambitiosum factum esse mirere,desirous of the favor of the Greeks, id. Q. Fr. 1, 2, 2: “pro nostris ut sis ambitiosa malis, Ov P. 3, 1, 84: pro nato caerula mater Ambitiosa suo fuit,” i.e. begs fawningly of Vulcan for weapons for her son, id. M. 13, 289: “malis artibus ambitiosus,seeking to ingratiate one's self, Tac. H. 2, 57: “salubris magis princeps quam ambitiosus,Suet. Aug. 42 al.
B. Pass., that is willingly solicited or entreated, ambitious; much sought, honored, admired: “ambitiosus et qui ambit et qui ambitur,Gell. 9, 12: “turba caelestes ambitiosa sumus,Ov. F. 5, 298: “sexus muliebris saevus, ambitiosus, potestatis avidus,Tac. A. 3, 33: si locuples hostis est, avari; “si pauper, ambitiosi,id. Agr. 30: “nota quidem sed non ambitiosa domus,not sought after, Ov. Tr. 1, 9, 18 Jahn: ambitiosae pulchritudinis scortum. Just. 30, 2. —
C. Of things, vain, ostentatious: “amicitiae,founded merely on the desire to please, interested, Cic. Att. 1, 18: “rogationes,id. Fam. 6, 12; so id. ib. 6, 6: “gloriandi genus,Quint. 11, 1, 22: “preces,urgent, Tac. H. 2, 49: “sententiae,Suet. Dom. 8: mors, ambitious, i. e. to obtain fame, Tac. Agr. 42: “medicina ars,boastful, Plin. 29, 1, 8, § 20: “et quaesitorum pelago terrāque ciborum Ambitiosa fames,Luc. 4, 376: “atria,splendid, gorgeous, Mart. 12, 69: “ambitiosis utilia praeferre,Quint. 1, 2, 27: “ambitiosius id existimans quam domi suae majestas postularet,more condescending, submissive, Suet. Aug. 25.—
D. In rhet.: orator ambitiosus, who seeks to rouse attention by obsolete or unusual expressions: “antigerio nemo nisi ambitiosus utetur,Quint. 8, 3, 26.—Hence, adv.: ambĭtĭōsē , ambitiously, ostentatiously, etc.: “de triumpho ambitiose agere,Cic. Att. 15, 1: “ambitiose regnum petere,Liv. 1, 35: amicitias ambitiose colere, Tac. H. 1, 10 al.—Comp., Cic. Fam. 3, 7.—Sup., Quint. 6, 3, 68.
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hide References (27 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (27):
    • Cicero, Letters to his Friends, 13.1
    • Cicero, Letters to his Friends, 3.7
    • Cicero, Letters to his Friends, 6.12
    • Cicero, Letters to Atticus, 15.1
    • Cicero, Letters to Atticus, 1.18
    • Cicero, Letters to his brother Quintus, 1.2.2
    • Suetonius, Divus Augustus, 25
    • Suetonius, Divus Augustus, 42
    • Suetonius, Domitianus, 8
    • Horace, Ars Poetica, 447
    • Tacitus, Annales, 3.33
    • Tacitus, Historiae, 2.49
    • Tacitus, Historiae, 2.57
    • Tacitus, Agricola, 42
    • Tacitus, Agricola, 30
    • Lucan, Civil War, 4.376
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 29.20
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 1, 35
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 1, 2.27
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 6, 3.68
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 8, 3.26
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 11, 1.22
    • Gellius, Noctes Atticae, 9.12
    • Ovid, Tristia, 1.9
    • Martial, Epigrammata, 12.69
    • Curtius, Historiarum Alexandri Magni, 4.7.16
    • Ovid, Fasti, 5
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