What's the difference between ambitious and modest?

Ambitious


Definition:

  • (a.) Possessing, or controlled by, ambition; greatly or inordinately desirous of power, honor, office, superiority, or distinction.
  • (a.) Strongly desirous; -- followed by of or the infinitive; as, ambitious to be or to do something.
  • (a.) Springing from, characterized by, or indicating, ambition; showy; aspiring; as, an ambitious style.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) While there has been almost no political reform during their terms of office, there have been several ambitious steps forward in terms of environmental policy: anti-desertification campaigns; tree planting; an environmental transparency law; adoption of carbon targets; eco-services compensation; eco accounting; caps on water; lower economic growth targets; the 12th Five-Year Plan; debate and increased monitoring of PM2.5 [fine particulate matter] and huge investments in eco-cities, "clean car" manufacturing, public transport, energy-saving devices and renewable technology.
  • (2) Her success has not been universally welcomed - anonymous colleagues are occasionally quoted in the media portraying her as "ambitious" and "bossy".
  • (3) The agreement, hailed as a "landmark" deal and a breakthrough by politicians and the green lobby alike, came before a crucial EU summit opening in Brussels tomorrow at which 27 prime ministers and presidents are supposed to finalise an ambitious package to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020.
  • (4) The minister for health, Mamy Lalatiana Andriamanarivo, says he is determined to push ahead with ambitious plans for universal free healthcare.
  • (5) Britain's Climate Change Act 2008, the most ambitious legislation of its kind in the world, calls for reductions of about 3% each year to 2050.
  • (6) When she filmed Snowden, Glenn Greenwald and myself in Hong Kong, it never occurred to me she had something as ambitious as CitizenFour in mind.
  • (7) At the other end the first meaningful touch from Castillo sees him attempt an ambitious chip to finish a rare US break.
  • (8) The Liberal surge in February 1974 and the rise of the SDP in the early 1980s showed that protest politics was translating into something more ambitious.
  • (9) In 1972, he launched a more ambitious plan by buying Hintlesham Hall, a decrepit grade-11 listed building in Suffolk, converting it into a home and three restaurants and taking over the Hintlesham festival held there.
  • (10) Like many ambitious young writers, he sought both popular success and literary acclaim.
  • (11) Meanwhile he is preparing a new double piano concerto by Kevin Volans with the Labèque sisters for a concert at the Edinburgh festival next week, and he tells me with a glint in his eye about ideas for the next two seasons: concert performances of Don Giovanni this October, more Brahms symphonies, and more Berlioz – an ambitious plan to realise the gigantic drama of Roméo and Juliette on a chamber-orchestral scale, following up his rapturously received performances of L'Enfance du Christ in February.
  • (12) "I am looking forward to … producing ambitious, daring and engaging content both in the UK and internationally, as well as accessing their extensive library of film content."
  • (13) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ambitious … Alice Fraser.
  • (14) His pupils are ambitious and successful, but many come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
  • (15) Brian Otis, Verily’s chief technology officer, said: “This is an ambitious collaboration allowing GSK and Verily to combine forces and have a huge impact on an emerging field.
  • (16) Banking group HBOS was not driven to point of bankruptcy by the global financial meltdown, but by its own strategy of high-risk lending, over-ambitious growth targets and poor controls, according to a hard-hitting report by the parliamentary commission on banking standards.
  • (17) "Our ownership model means that we can take a long-term view and we are as driven, determined and ambitious as ever to modernise our business.
  • (18) I'm not in the least ambitious, never have been, and I don't tread on people.
  • (19) Scott's ambitious design for the hotel and station clearly plundered the architectural treasuries of medieval Europe.
  • (20) She said: "The targets do not look that ambitious, while the failure of the banks to meet their previous targets without any obvious repercussions means they have little incentive to meet these new ones."

Modest


Definition:

  • (a.) Restraining within due limits of propriety; not forward, bold, boastful, or presumptious; rather retiring than pushing one's self forward; not obstructive; as, a modest youth; a modest man.
  • (a.) Observing the proprieties of the sex; not unwomanly in act or bearing; free from undue familiarity, indecency, or lewdness; decent in speech and demeanor; -- said of a woman.
  • (a.) Evincing modestly in the actor, author, or speaker; not showing presumption; not excessive or extreme; moderate; as, a modest request; modest joy.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Incubation with IFN alpha or IFN gamma for 24 h resulted in only modest cytokinetic alterations, and they did not modify the effects of FUra.
  • (2) The active agents modestly improved treadmill exercise duration time until 1 mm ST segment depression (3%), and only propranolol and diltiazem had significant effects.
  • (3) Brown's model, which goes far further than those from any other senior Labour figure, and the modest new income tax powers for Holyrood devised when he was prime minister, edge the party much closer to the quasi-federal plans championed by the Liberal Democrats.
  • (4) The standard varies from modest to lavish – choose carefully and you could be staying in an antique-filled room with your host's paintings on the walls, and breakfasting on the veranda of a tropical garden.
  • (5) Bupropion, in contrast, had a modest effect only in CD-1 mice.
  • (6) These data support a modest role for alpha 1-adrenergic coronary vasoconstriction during exercise but fail to document an additional role for postsynaptic alpha 2-adrenergic coronary vasoconstriction during exercise.
  • (7) Alterations in mean systolic blood pressure appeared to be modest, consisting of a 10 percent decrease from the control level, related to sedation, and a 10 percent rise from baseline during the procedure, associated with a concomitant mild tachycardia.
  • (8) The patient made modest improvement with high-dose intravenous steroids.
  • (9) Modest reductions in renal function as measured by clearances of inulin and p-aminohippurate occurred acutely only in the patients with renal impairment.
  • (10) Although the debate in the US has led to some piecemeal reforms – including the USA Freedom Act and modest policy changes – many of the most intrusive government surveillance programs remain largely intact.
  • (11) Ultimately, both Geffen and Browne turned out to be correct: establishing the pattern for Zevon's career, the albums sold modestly but the critics loved them.
  • (12) Simultaneous metabolic studies of human normal fibrinogen and asialofibrinogen in rabbits revealed only a modest decrease in the half-life of the asialoprotein compared to the intact protein, with no preferential uptake of the asialo-derivative by the liver.
  • (13) Levels of involvement in the program were modest, with only 16% of those screened having over 10 clinical contacts and 24% still involved after 3 months.
  • (14) Testosterone and estrogen administration at low or modest doses to individuals with the capacity to produce GH causes GH production and IGF-I levels to increase.
  • (15) The more modest effect of (n-3) fatty acid supplementation in decreasing LTB4 generation was not due to blockade of the cyclooxygenase pathway.
  • (16) The effect of volume expansion on sodium, calcium and magnesium remaining in the proximal tubule was relatively modest and not affected by furosemide.
  • (17) On the other side of the Atlantic, a more modest, quieter challenger plans to take on the US electric car giant.
  • (18) In conclusion, a zipper technique has been outlined that allows effective continuing drainage of the septic abdomen, permits early diagnosis of organ damage, is rapid and cost effective, minimizes ventilator dependency and gastrointestinal complications, is well tolerated by the patients, and has produced a modest 65 per cent survival rate in the first 34 critically ill patients in whom it was used.
  • (19) In order to improve the modest oral activity of PGE2 as an inhibitor of gastric acid secretion, analogs were prepared and tested orally in histamine-challenged rats.
  • (20) Specific binding of insulin did not differ between control and modestly insulinopenic diabetics but was increased significantly in the severely insulinopenic diabetics.