motivate

American  

[moh-tuh-vayt] / ˈmoʊ təˌveɪt /

verb (used with object)

• motivates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• motivated,
  past participle,  past
• motivating
  present participle

1. 

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

   Synonyms:

   cause, prompt, provoke, move, induce

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motivate British  

/ ˈməʊtɪˌveɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to give incentive to

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Participles

• motivating
  present
• motivated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• motivate
  simple
• motivates
  simple
• have motivated
  perfect
• has motivated
  perfect
• am motivating
  progressive
• are motivating
  progressive
• is motivating
  progressive
• have been motivating
  perfect progressive
• has been motivating
  perfect progressive

Past

• motivated
  simple
• had motivated
  perfect
• was motivating
  progressive
• were motivating
  progressive
• had been motivating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will motivate
  simple
• will have motivated
  perfect
• will be motivating
  progressive
• will have been motivating
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of motivate

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

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

motivate motivates motivated motivating

Corporate executives often get much of their pay in the form of stock or options, as a way to motivate and reward them for the stock’s appreciation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 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

"Experience shows that I only come back stronger and all of these lessons this season definitely already made me stronger, but definitely going to motivate me for the next year to do better job."

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

“How do we get from the Columbian Exchange to Al Qaeda? What would motivate people to create a terrorist group? Why would America be a target?” he asked his class.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

“Well, are you going to motivate people to bring peace to war- torn nations, or are you going to motivate people to join a cult and drink the Kool-Aid?”

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray

The good ones are attuned to what motivates people on their teams and who works well with whom.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

She says it is terrifying how often these attacks are happening to women, but is deeply sceptical of what the anti-immigration groups say motivates them to take to the streets.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 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

Her relationship frequently crosses boundaries, but Maddie permits it because the attention makes her feel good and motivates her disorder.

From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026

Yegey in the Hall of the Thirty-Three today: “I unalterably oppose this blockade of grain-exports to Karhide, and the spirit of competition that motivates it.”

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Some people may not want to work in the field anymore; others may now feel motivated to.

From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026

As deadlines for the ports’ clean-air goals are approaching, they are motivated to accelerate the transition to green vehicles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

For marketers, the math suggests that if ads ever arrive in Muse, Meta will be motivated to make the case for much higher prices than traditional ads in a social feed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

That anxiety motivated Sarah Lee and Kayla Poulton, who has also been through the court process, to do something that might help to remove some of the stress for others in a similar position.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

The day before, he had telegrammed President Kennedy and listed twenty different, racially motivated, unpunished actions taken by white men against black people in Birmingham.

From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry

What we found was disheartening but also motivating.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

We don’t know what was motivating the solo juror who wanted to send Clancy to jail rather than to a psychiatric hospital.

From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2026

If a client wants to buy, he tries to understand what’s motivating the desire.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

"Knowing what I'd left and what I was trying to become was very motivating," he says.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

He later admitted that the game had a great effect in motivating him.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

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