MOTIVATE

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (verb)

Verb forms

Present simple: I / you / we / they motivate ... he / she / it motivates

Past simple: motivated

Past participle: motivated

-ing form: motivating

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give an incentive for action

Example:

This moved me to sacrifice my career

Synonyms:

actuate; incite; motivate; move; prompt; propel

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "motivate" is one way to...):

cause; do; make (give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally)

Verb group:

affect; impress; move; strike (have an emotional or cognitive impact upon)

move (arouse sympathy or compassion in)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They motivate him to write the letter

Derivation:

motivation (the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior)

motivation (the act of motivating; providing incentive)

motivation (the condition of being motivated)

motivative (impelling to action)

motivator (a positive motivational influence)

motive (the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior)

Credits

Context examples:

The investigation was originally motivated by a search for active zones within Titan's crust — places where dynamic forces have shaped the landscape, perhaps in the relatively recent past.

(Cassini Spies Titan's Tallest Peaks, NASA)

Dr Martin Worthington’s new research analysing the word play in the story has uncovered the duplicitous language of a Babylonian god called Ea, who was motivated by self-interest.

(‘Trickster god’ used fake news in Babylonian Noah story, University of Cambridge)

A category of psychiatric disorders which are characterized by physical or psychological symptoms that are intentionally produced in order to assume the sick role; there is no external incentive for the behavior, such as economic gain or avoiding legal responsibility, and the person is unaware of any self-motivating factors.

(Factitious Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)

Mars will also motivate you to start on a home-related plan in early February, your best time to swing into action.