motivated

adjective

mo·​ti·​vat·​ed ˈmō-tə-ˌvā-təd 

: provided with a motive : having an incentive or a strong desire to do well or succeed in some pursuit

a motivated employee

Courses are being offered on college campuses for those who are highly motivated but who without such help often drop out and are lost to society and themselves.

—Carol Kort

In a sporting context, for example, athletes who consistently seem to play hard and rarely concede defeat are often described as highly motivated or "competitive" by the media.

—Robert C. Eklund

Examples of motivated in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Through the first half of 2025, the US saw some 150 politically motivated attacks, said Michael Jensen, a University of Maryland researcher who tracks terrorism incidents. —Chris Boyette, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2025

Politically motivated uses of force are a categorical assault on individual rights and on the American method of persuasion over force. —Agustina Vergara Cid, Oc Register, 13 Sep. 2025

Hortman, her husband and their dog were killed early on the morning of June 14 in their Brooklyn Park home in what investigators say was a politically motivated attack. —Mark Vancleave, Twin Cities, 13 Sep. 2025

Minnesota is mad and motivated, but New York is the titleholder until told otherwise. —Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1903, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing motivated

• self-motivated

Rhymes for motivated

• abdicated
• abrogated
• acclimated
• activated
• actuated
• adumbrated
• advocated
• aggravated
• aggregated
• agitated
• allocated
• alternated