entrepreneurial

adjective

en·​tre·​pre·​neur·​ial ˌän-trə-p(r)ə-ˈnər-ē-əl 

-ˈn(y)u̇r-, 

ˌäⁿn-

: having to do with the creation and development of economic ventures : of, relating to, characteristic of, or suited to an entrepreneur

entrepreneurial skills/ambitions/projects

entrepreneurial zeal

With your colleagues and the kids out of the way, what do you buy for that spouse or friend who's gone the entrepreneurial route and is working at home?

—Don Crabb

Harvard Business School, long known as a gateway to corporate America, last October established a beachhead in the nation's entrepreneurial epicenter, California's Silicon Valley.

—Marc Ballon

… economic development is more likely to occur (if at all) in the more entrepreneurial southern region.

—Sarah Searight

also : engaged or interested in the development of economic ventures

an ambitious and entrepreneurial young woman

a company founded by a group of entrepreneurial scientists

entrepreneurialism

ˌäⁿn-trə-p(r)ə-ˈnər-ē-ə-li-zəm 

-ˈn(y)u̇r-, 

ˌäⁿn-

noun

The map shows the distribution of high-tech manufacturing firms in the southeastern United States …, helping to identify towns and cities that are lodestones of high-tech entrepreneurialism.

—John Tierney

entrepreneurially

ˌäⁿn-trə-p(r)ə-ˈnər-ē-ə-lē 

-ˈn(y)u̇r-, 

ˌäⁿn-

adverb

… some 25 teams, drawn mostly from the ranks of universities and entrepreneurially minded engineers …

—Joseph Hooper

Examples of entrepreneurial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Two years of eating brownies and pizza as meals, never working out, and entrepreneurial pressure had snowballed into gastrointestinal reflux disease. — Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 4 Oct. 2026

In 2017, the company created Red Wagon Ventures, named for the vehicle Truett used to sell bottles of Coca-Cola in his first entrepreneurial gambit at age 6. — Amelia Lucas, CNBC, 4 Oct. 2026

In that vacuum, an entrepreneurial cohort of American designers established new avenues for survival. — Adrian Madlener, Curbed, 30 Sep. 2026

Since day one, my goal has been to preserve the entrepreneurial energy and strong relationships that make our culture distinct, while adding discipline around planning, communication, prioritization and decision-making. — Lou Maiuri, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1890, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for entrepreneurial

• seigneurial