as in incentive
something that arouses action or activity
fear of failing should be plenty of motivation to study for the test
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Recent Examples of motivation
Whatever their motivations for requiring a return to work (RTW), employers are running into resistance from the workers themselves.
—
Amy Lindgren, Twin Cities, 28 June 2025
The female directing duo provided greater motivation for Elio (Yonas Kibreab) to want to be abducted by aliens and strengthened his emotional arc.
—Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 27 June 2025
But in Season 3, her big motivation became protecting the weaker woman here, Geum-ja, and Jun-hee’s newborn baby as well.
—Matt Minton, Variety, 27 June 2025
The next step is to win it, and that’s our motivation for next season.
—Greg O'Keeffe, New York Times, 21 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for motivation
Amy Lindgren, Twin Cities, 28 June 2025
The female directing duo provided greater motivation for Elio (Yonas Kibreab) to want to be abducted by aliens and strengthened his emotional arc.
—Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 27 June 2025
But in Season 3, her big motivation became protecting the weaker woman here, Geum-ja, and Jun-hee’s newborn baby as well.
—Matt Minton, Variety, 27 June 2025
The next step is to win it, and that’s our motivation for next season.
—Greg O'Keeffe, New York Times, 21 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for motivation
Recent Examples of Synonyms for motivation
Noun
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Advertisement While there has never been a federal mandate to buy electric vehicles, Trump’s bill does eliminate federal tax incentives for electric-vehicle owners, which is expected to hurt Musk’s company Tesla.—
Chad de Guzman,
Time,
7 July 2025
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While these efforts have generally failed to boost birth rates, one notable exception is the Hubei province city of Tianmen, where incentives were followed by a notable surge in births last year.—
Micah McCartney,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 July 2025
Noun
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But another member of the Southeastern Connecticut delegation who served as the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Aundre Bumgardner, D-Groton, said that the Plainfield proposal had been the primary impetus for the bill.—
Mark Pazniokas,
Hartford Courant,
9 July 2025
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Still, Streeter suggested that further pressure from the U.K. regulator could provide the impetus required to accelerate changes within the company.—
Karen Gilchrist,
CNBC,
8 July 2025
Noun
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While some commenters noted the mistake, many offered support and encouragement.—
Melissa Fleur Afshar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 June 2025
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However, Bird only came out in 2017, after the encouragement of Rapinoe.—
Grace Jordan-Weinstein,
People.com,
20 June 2025
Noun
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State stimulus, on-demand infrastructure, affective consumption, and homegrown innovation are reshaping consumer expectations and fashion’s business logic.—
Li Jun,
Footwear News,
28 June 2025
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That could reduce the urgency for Beijing to step up stimulus at the upcoming Politburo meeting in July, Xing added.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
27 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Motivation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/motivation. Accessed 13 Jul. 2025.
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