motivate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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motivatornoun
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demotivateverb (used with object)
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remotivateverb (used with object)
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nonmotivatedadjective
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unmotivatedadjective
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unmotivatingadjective
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well-motivatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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motivatesimple
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motivatessimple
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have motivatedperfect
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has motivatedperfect
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am motivatingprogressive
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are motivatingprogressive
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is motivatingprogressive
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have been motivatingperfect progressive
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has been motivatingperfect progressive
Past
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motivatedsimple
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had motivatedperfect
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was motivatingprogressive
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were motivatingprogressive
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had been motivatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of motivate
Explanation
To give someone the incentive to act in a certain way is to motivate that person. If you give your dad a food-processor for his birthday, you might motivate him to help out with the cooking. The verb motivate means to prompt or incite. By giving speeches on college campuses across the country, John F. Kennedy motivated a lot of young people to join the Peace Corps in the early 1960s. People are not always motivated in positive ways, however. When a crime is described as racially motivated, it means the perpetrators picked their victim because of the color of his skin.
Vocabulary lists containing motivate
List 5
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Mother's Day Words: What Mothers Do
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I wonder what he thinks might motivate people to serve, instead of coercing them, and he mentions raising salaries.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
In a nation that doesn't care much for soccer, vast crowds sang the cheesy, sunny song "Country Roads" to motivate their heroes.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
We are grateful for the opportunities provided to us, opportunities that foster our personal growth and motivate us to move forward and build a better life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Small, intermittent rewards can motivate you to keep going.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
“Consider this a pop quiz. This soldier’s identity should motivate you to get it right.”
From "Legend" by Marie Lu
“Princess Mononoke” proves that sometimes losing too much motivates us to help nature to regain some ground.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
Those were the words Contepomi used to describe how Messi's greatness as an athlete motivates his side.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
A happy homeowner, Umansky holds, is the ultimate goal in his line of work, and the satisfaction that comes from helping clients is what motivates him to remain active as a real estate agent.
From MarketWatch ● May 22, 2026
“It’s a lot to carry for sure, but it motivates us to go out there and just do what we can.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2026
Though the pedants are mistaken in insisting that than and as may only be conjunctions, the tree-thinking that motivates their judgment is sound.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
“Crimes motivated by hate have no place in our community,” Altadena Sheriff’s Station Captain Ethan Marquez said in a statement Friday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
Asked Thursday if he believed Matar was motivated to carry out the fatwa, Rushdie replied: "I had no knowledge of that. I have my suspicions," according to US media.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
"Throughout my life, I have only ever been motivated by public service, the opportunity to serve our country is all I ever asked. That's why this is an opportunity I humbly accept."
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
The best encounters with classic literature—with Tolstoy, with Proust—forego line-by-line analysis or politically motivated allegory.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Our time in Chicago with other exonerated former death row prisoners was energizing for Walter, who seemed more motivated than ever to talk about his experience.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
“I’d love to keep working with debut directors. After the recent films I’ve done and seeing ‘Obsession’ and ‘Backrooms,’ it’s really motivating seeing what they can do.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
But financial concerns weren't the only motivating factor, LeadingAge's Erin Huppert said.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
Bergstrom says money stopped motivating him years ago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
Higher charter rates for oil tankers are motivating owners to take the risk of entering the strait.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
Barack and I belonged to the same gym, run by a jovial and motivating athletic trainer named Cornell McClellan.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
