motivate

American

[moh-tuh-veyt] / ˈmoʊ təˌveɪt /

verb (used with object)

motivated, motivating

to provide with a motive, or a cause or reason to act; incite; impel.

Synonyms:

cause, prompt, provoke, move, induce

motivate British

/ ˈməʊtɪˌveɪt /

verb

(tr) to give incentive to

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

demotivate verb (used with object)
motivator noun
nonmotivated adjective
remotivate verb (used with object)
unmotivated adjective
unmotivating adjective
well-motivated adjective

Etymology

Origin of motivate

First recorded in 1860–65; motive + -ate ¹

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.

But when the ski season is over, Braathen seeks out a world away from the sport "in order to come back motivated".

From Barron's

"But mostly the challenge is to make them motivated about mining," he added.

From Barron's

"I don't need to motivate these players, they are fully aware where we are in the league and what we have done," said Manchester City manager Andree Jeglertz.

From BBC

To make up for this I began to use more psychological methods to generate the atmosphere in the dressing room that would help motivate the players.

From BBC

"Over the last 17 years, we have suffered a lot, faced multiple politically motivated cases and lost a factory I owned."

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023