motivate

verb

mo·ti·vate | \ ˈmō-tə-ˌvāt

motivated; motivating

Definition of motivate

: to provide with a motive : impel questions that excite and motivate youth She was motivated by a desire to help children.

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Examples of motivate in a Sentence

No one knows what motivated him to act in such a violent way.

Recent Examples on the Web

Waking up before dawn wasn’t (and still isn’t) easy, but having some financial incentives helped motivate me to commit to this routine early on. — Julia Sullivan, SELF, "How I Went From Hating Exercise to Becoming a Fitness Instructor in 5 Years," 3 May 2019 For a felon motivated by greed, as her prosecutors put it, Boone has surprising sides. — Town & Country, "Mary Boone Is Taking a Break," 18 Apr. 2019 Variety and selection of goods was close behind as a motivating factor, at 74%. — Heather Haddon, WSJ, "With a Pinch of Innovation, Food Makers Raise Prices," 19 Dec. 2018 Those conversations were one of the motivating factors behind her decision to launch her own firm, Athena Capital, last fall. — Morgen Peck, Glamour, "Cryptocurrency Is Not Just a Boys' Club," 11 Dec. 2018 Opposition to Trump proved to be more a motivating factor for Democrats than support for the president a factor for Republicans. — Zeke Miller, The Seattle Times, "AP VoteCast: Trump a dominant force on voters’ minds," 7 Nov. 2018 The urgency to innovate is part of what’s motivating CIOs to take on culture change at their companies, said Graham Waller, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner Inc.’s digital business leadership research team. — Sara Castellanos, WSJ, "State Street CIO Sparks Culture Change Around Problem-Solving," 28 Mar. 2019 Shanti Hodges has written a new book to help motivate families to get on the trail—and find the one that's perfect for them When Shanti Hodges hits the road next month to promote her new book, Hike It Baby! — Katie Arnold, Outside Online, "Hiking with Young Kids? Follow These Tips," 26 June 2018 That realization helped frame the entire session and motivated me to finally understand time. — Gia Miller, SELF, "Hiring a Coach for My ADHD Transformed My Life and Productivity," 27 Mar. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'motivate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.