motivate
Americanverb (used with object)
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motivates,
present (3rd person singular)
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motivated,
past participle, past
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motivating
present participle
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
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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:
A Trade Desk spokesman said repricing was “a more disciplined choice than issuing new awards” and was intended to motivate employees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
Garfield, a pediatrician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, said his experiences with families in the neonatal intensive care unit helped motivate the research.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
When asked what would motivate her to get out and vote this November, she contemplated what to say.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
"Experience shows that I only come back stronger and all of these lessons this season definitely already made me stronger, but definitely going to motivate me for the next year to do better job."
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Or was it somehow his own fault, his own inability to motivate the team?
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
It’s about how difficult it can be to understand what truly motivates anyone else—even when you get extremely intimate access to them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
“And if it hurts, hopefully it motivates those who are in power to make sure that when these things come to light, they put a stop to it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
She says it is terrifying how often these attacks are happening to women, but is deeply sceptical of what the anti-immigration groups say motivates them to take to the streets.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
This link between thinking and doing serves a clear function – it motivates us to get the necessities for life.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
It’s not cruelty, maybe, but a desire to understand, that motivates them.
From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
Sean McVay’s decision to keep two kickers on the roster is partially motivated by the Rams’ playoff chances being in perilous place.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
Attendees came from all over Texas and were motivated far more by Pulido’s celebrity than his candidacy.
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026
The common denominator has often been tech leaders at helms with enough leverage to dictate such terms to eager investors motivated by FOMO.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
Some people may not want to work in the field anymore; others may now feel motivated to.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
Don was clearly not motivated to be a scholar.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
At campaign events in the Rio Grande Valley in September, several voters cited Hinojosa’s identity and approach to politics as a motivating factor.
From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2026
“If your focus is on the thing you want, then it’s more benign and more motivating if you recognize that,” Kim says.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
Hoang says a motivating factor for her film was to confront cultural norms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
“Who would sell grades for a stats course? Why would someone buy grades? What’s motivating them? Why wouldn’t the university be doing something about it?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
He could feel the skillful hand of fate motivating hrm imperatively.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
