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

Other critics, including nonprofit leaders and academics, described the report as ideologically motivated and disconnected from the realities of modern surrogacy practices in countries like Canada, the United States and Mexico. —Jesus Mesa, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Nov. 2025

Initially, this was a small – arguably tax-motivated – add-on. —Kenneth Squire, CNBC, 15 Nov. 2025

Though the investigation began under the Biden administration, Williamson’s attorney, former federal prosecutor McGregor Scott, blasted the federal charges as politically motivated. —Nicole Nixon, Sacbee.com, 14 Nov. 2025

And in an era of record-high performative allyship (and corresponding frustration with performative allyship) following the police’s racially motivated murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, these interviews carried real stakes. —Hershal Pandya, Vulture, 13 Nov. 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