ambition vs would-be

ambition

noun
  • An object of an ardent desire. 

  • Eager or inordinate desire for some object that confers distinction, as preferment, honor, superiority, political power, or fame; desire to distinguish one's self from other people. 

  • A personal quality similar to motivation, not necessarily tied to a single goal. 

  • A desire, as in (sense 1), for another person to achieve these things. 

verb
  • To seek after ambitiously or eagerly; to covet. 

would-be

noun
  • One who aspires to something. 

  • One's fiancé or fiancée. 

adj
  • Attempting or desiring something. 

  • Unfulfilled; frustrated in realizing a goal, ambition, etc. 

How often have the words ambition and would-be occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )