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

That and using the negative feeling that play-off last season brought as motivation.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

Wall Street analysts later explained that the real motivation was likely to protect the Treasury market, just as volatility was starting to tick higher.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan have identified a brain mechanism that may help explain how motivation is maintained.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026

Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant who worked on the Enron and Madoff cases, says the issue comes down to the motivation of the parties and can be explained through an analogy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

Hunting-gathering is not so rewarding in New Guinea as to remove the motivation to develop food production.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

“I understand the sphere of these people and the motivations and I’ve been to a lot of these amazing houses,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

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

From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2026

If Acme had not accepted your documentation, you could have notified them in writing that you will contact your state’s insurance regulator, focusing on the evidence rather than the Acme adjuster’s motivations.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026

While many venture investors see the rise of young entrepreneurs as positive, some worry about the motivations of some founders during the AI gold rush.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

“You just ask them which tastes better, and by that indirect method you get a picture of what their true motivations are.”

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

Related Words

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