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

Switching off from work helps employees stay healthy and motivated in the long run. —Lieke Ten Brummelhuis, Forbes.com, 16 May 2025

But Spotify may not be hugely motivated to hunt them all down, the director of the non-profit Tech Transparency Project, Katie Paul, told CNN. —Ashley Belanger – May 16, ArsTechnica, 16 May 2025

Europeans, Australians and Americans organized violent, racially motivated riots and lawmakers began enacting anti-Chinese immigration legislation, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. —Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 May 2025

South Africa's government has strongly denied any land confiscations or racially motivated discrimination, saying the law targets land not being used or not serving the public interest. —Caroline Linton, CBS News, 15 May 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