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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

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

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

Sentencing Murrell in June Lord Young said he had carried out a "calculated crime of dishonesty" but told the court he had been unable to identify a clear motive.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

He said investigators would look at business records to find out “if there was a financial motive or was it just the result of a financial loss.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

No information was immediately available on motive, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

Who in this school could have a motive for doing something that’s so upsetting to so many people?

From "Linked" by Gordon Korman

The suspect had made "incoherent statements", Nunez said, warning however against jumping to conclusions as to his motives.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

How can we not wonder about ulterior motives?

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

In Hamawy’s case, it led to suspicions about his past and true motives that was effective enough for his eventual primary win to be deemed “controversial.”

From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026

There was speculation about how long they would last, and the motives for the union, but the couple rode the wave.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026

“What do you mean, your motives weren’t pure?”

From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone

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

If the sociological impetus were absent, most of them would be religiously motived to a state not less abnormal.

From Introduction to the Science of Sociology by Robert Ezra Park

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

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

Related Words

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