motivation

American  

[moh-tuh-vey-shuhn] / ˌmoʊ təˈveɪ ʃən /

noun

• motivations
  plural

1. the act or an instance of motivating, or providing with a reason to act in a certain way.

   I don't understand what her motivation was for quitting her job.

   Synonyms:

   impetus, cause, inducement, inspiration, motive

2. the state or condition of being motivated or having a strong reason to act or accomplish something.

   We know that these students have strong motivation to learn.

3. something that motivates; inducement; incentive.

   Clearly, the company's long-term motivation is profit.

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motivation British  

/ ˌməʊtɪˈveɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or an instance of motivating

2. desire to do; interest or drive

3. incentive or inducement

4. psychol the process that arouses, sustains and regulates human and animal behaviour

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• demotivation
  noun
• nonmotivation
  noun
• remotivation
  noun
• motivational
  adjective
• motivative
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• motivations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of motivation

First recorded in 1870–75; motive + -ation

Explanation

People often need motivation to do tasks they'd prefer not to do. Do you work? Your motivation is your paycheck. Lost something? Finding it may provide motivation to tidy the house. At the root of the word motivation is the word motive, which is similarly defined as the reason for a particular action. Although the words are synonyms, when it comes to criminal behavior, people generally ask about the motives leading to the criminal acts, not the motivation behind them. Other synonyms for motivation include inspiration and enthusiasm, so people tend to associate motivation with positive acts.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

motivation motivations

"It shapes your psyche and moulds your motivation to fight, so that in critical situations, you know you are capable of something more", said Karyi.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

His motivation these days is “family, my love for the game and what it can do for me.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

In a fiscally unconstrained environment, city leaders lost the need and the motivation to fund ambitious public projects with private money.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

"It controls us having motivation to do things - wanting to do things," explained Laura Cuaya, one of the study's lead researchers at the University of Vienna.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

“You don’t understand—my life is already full of cooking. I have zero motivation to come up with a recipe.”

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

In a sane world he would provide answers that could facilitate greater understanding of his actions and motivations, and how he believes those actions will benefit the American people.

From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026

"Fiction isn't inventing new emotions in you. It's pressing on those pre-existing motivations like instincts."

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

To survive, they’ve had to connect with groups that have almost incomprehensibly different motivations.

From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2026

In the end, Schiller has a go at parsing her own motivations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

It wasn’t so much that I didn’t trust Clancy’s motivations; he just unnerved me.

From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken

Related Words

• catalyst
• desire
• encouragement
• impetus
• impulse
• incentive
• inclination
• interest
• motive
• reason
• wish