Of a person: full of ambition; strongly desiring achievement, advancement, or honour; aspiring to a… Without complement, in attributive or…

Ardently desirous of advancement or distinction; of lofty aim, ambitious.

Now rare. = heroic, adj. 4a.

Having or characterized by lofty ideals or aims; ambitious, aspirational; grandiose; (later also) highly successful, esp. in one's career.

Aspiring, ambitious; (of writing, thought, etc.) elevated in style or content.

figurative. Rising to a great height, high pitch, etc.; egregious; ambitious, aspiring; sublime.

Striving for a higher position, seeking distinction.

With a following adjective, forming adjectives used attributively, as in would-be-clever, would-be-elegant, etc.

like Diotrephes.

In extended use. Obsolete.