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:
“Buyers are getting savvier,” Schwartz said, and they know what type of offers can motivate a seller.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026
But playing four tournaments after the US Open, having previously admitted it is really only the Grand Slams which motivate him, suggests he is ready to tackle the 2027 season head-on.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
High prices encourage consumers to conserve resources and seek alternatives, while for producers they motivate more investment to capture those extraordinary profits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 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
I kept hoping the explanation would turn out to be more complex, that there’d turn out to be more than pure, blind hatred to motivate their actions.
From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi
The senior palace aide has worked closely with the King for many years and has a unique insight into his work and what motivates the monarch.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 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
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
“Princess Mononoke” proves that sometimes losing too much motivates us to help nature to regain some ground.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 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
“In due time, I will tell all the Portuguese about the reasons that motivated my departure from the national team, which I always dedicated myself to,” Ronaldo posted on social media shortly after walking out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
Attendees came from all over Texas and were motivated far more by Pulido’s celebrity than his candidacy.
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026
Despite having to make difficult selection decisions, Mourinho has stressed the importance of keeping every member of his squad motivated and ready to contribute.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 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
“Father’s gone,” Tendai said, who had an idea about what motivated the Mellower.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
But other factors would also have been motivating voters in these states, as elsewhere.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
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
In particular, he writes, Capra excelled at motivating great performances.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 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
The reggaeton music coming from the pisa y corre is both incredibly irritating and unbelievably catchy and motivating as I run.
From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya
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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.
