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• motive
  motive

  noun

  something that causes a person to act in a certain way, do a certain thing, etc.; incentive.
• -motive
  -motive

  a combining form of motive.

motive

¹ American  

[moh-tiv] / ˈmoʊ tɪv /

noun

• motives
  plural

1. something that causes a person to act in a certain way, do a certain thing, etc.; incentive.

   Synonyms:

   cause, ground, occasion, influence, spur, stimulus, incitement, motivation

2. the goal or object of a person's actions.

   Her motive was revenge.

3. (in art, literature, and music) a motif.

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adjective

1. causing, or tending to cause, motion.

2. pertaining to motion.

3. prompting to action.

4. constituting a motive or motives.

verb (used with object)

• motives,
  present (3rd person singular)
• motived,
  past participle,  past
• motiving
  present participle

1. to motivate.

-motive ² American  

1. a combining form of motive.

   automotive.

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motive British  

/ ˈməʊtɪv /

noun

1. the reason for a certain course of action, whether conscious or unconscious

2. a variant of motif

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adjective

1. of or causing motion or action

   a motive force

2. of or acting as a motive; motivating

verb

1. to motivate

Usage

What does motive mean? A motive is something that causes a person to act in a certain way, as in Luciana’s motive for studying was the F she got on the last exam. A motive can also be the reward or benefit received for completing an action in a certain way or time, as in Yosef’s motive for signing up for the hike was to climb to the top of the mountain. Motive can also describe something as relating to motion or movement, such as a motive engine. A common misuse of this form is auto motive. The term automotive comes from the term, but it is a standalone word, not a phrase. Example: We need to identify a motive before we can continue investigating.

Synonym Usage

Motive, incentive, inducement apply to whatever moves one to action. Motive is, literally, something that moves a person; an inducement, something that leads a person on; an incentive, something that inspires a person. Motive is applied mainly to an inner urge that moves or prompts a person to action, though it may also apply to a contemplated result, the desire for which moves the person: His motive was a wish to be helpful. Inducement is never applied to an inner urge, and seldom to a goal: The pleasure of wielding authority may be an inducement to get ahead. It is used mainly of opportunities offered by the acceptance of certain conditions, whether these are offered by a second person or by the factors of the situation: The salary offered me was a great inducement. Incentive was once used of anything inspiring or stimulating the emotions or imagination: incentives to piety; it has retained of this its emotional connotations, but (rather like inducement ) is today applied only to something offered as a reward, and offered particularly to stimulate competitive activity: to create incentives for higher achievement. See reason.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• motivelessness
  noun
• motiveless
  adjective
• well-motived
  adjective
• motivelessly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• motives
  plural

Participles

• motiving
  present
• motived
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• motive
  simple
• motives
  simple
• have motived
  perfect
• has motived
  perfect
• am motiving
  progressive
• are motiving
  progressive
• is motiving
  progressive
• have been motiving
  perfect progressive
• has been motiving
  perfect progressive

Past

• motived
  simple
• had motived
  perfect
• was motiving
  progressive
• were motiving
  progressive
• had been motiving
  perfect progressive

Future

• will motive
  simple
• will have motived
  perfect
• will be motiving
  progressive
• will have been motiving
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of motive

First recorded in 1325–75; (for the adjective) Middle English, from Middle French motif, from Medieval Latin mōtīvus “serving to move,” from Latin mōt(us) “moved” (past participle of movēre “to move”; see move) + -īvus -ive; noun derivative of the adjective

Explanation

Your reason for doing something is your motive. Your motive to go to school every day is to learn. Or maybe the thought of your parents' anger and a run-in with the truant officer is motive enough. The word motive comes from the Latin words motivus, meaning moving, and movere, meaning to move. Think of motive as the thing that moves you to act. You often hear of motive in the context of crime––a suspect’s fingerprints may be on the murder weapon, but a detective won’t understand the crime until he understands the motive. What made the killer act?

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

motive motives motived motiving

Experts have said there could be legal jeopardy if there was a financial motive behind the poll’s release.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

"The investigation is ongoing... We are still trying to identify the motive," police spokeswoman Shella Chang told AFP, adding the crime scene was now being processed.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

“The motive is a little different,” he told me.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

What makes this episode unusually clarifying is that nobody on the winning side seems to feel much need to disguise the motive.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

Viruses are molecular sharks, a motive without a mind.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

That possibility gives historians a new way to interpret the AKL and the political motives behind it.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026

Like the billionaire geniuses who created social media that wound up depressing, dumbing down and dehumanizing civilization, the motives of these companies were purely financial.

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026

Dating coach Jaime Bronstein is a proponent of using LinkedIn with ulterior motives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

Berlin has so far refused to speculate on the motives or identity of those responsible for the incident at Leipzig.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

He knows well that I am imprisoned; and as he has done it himself, and has doubtless his own motives for it, he would only deceive me if I trusted him fully with the facts.

From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker

He called the “cottage industry” of allegations and conspiracy theories a “grim cyclorama of deceit and sensation” and said those promoting such tales were motived by money.

From New York Times ● Feb. 17, 2023

Hong Kong has become a focus under heightened US-China tensions, which motived him to pay more attention to international affairs, Kam said.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 15, 2023

“I think that’s why I have useful expertise in trying to solve problems, and am motived to work hard with other stakeholders on consensus solutions.”

From Washington Post ● Oct. 23, 2017

Here are 21 inspiring quotes that will get you hyped up and keep you motived as an entrepreneur.

From Time ● Aug. 18, 2015

As a consequence of this threatening measure, motived by no military “presage” on the part of Germany, the German Empire found itself in face of a grave and imminent danger.

From The Evidence in the Case A Discussion of the Moral Responsibility for the War of 1914, as Disclosed by the Diplomatic Records of England, Germany, Russia by James M. (James Montgomery) Beck

Her conception of a play of passion forbids motiving of character, or integration of the development of character with action.

From Tragedy by Ashley H. Thorndike

But your Lamia has taught you some subtle 'viperine' reasoning and motiving, for the turning down one street instead of another.

From The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett, Vol. 1 (of 2) 1845-1846 by Robert Browning

And through all the talk, through the busy routine of the place, in the men and women working in the hospital, there emerged always that something unseen,—Idea, Will, Spirit, the motiving force of the whole.

From Together by Robert Herrick

Related Words

• aim
• cause
• consideration
• emotion
• feeling
• idea
• impulse
• influence
• intent
• intention
• motivation
• passion
• rationale