motivated

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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

motivated

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past tense and past participle of motivate

Examples of motivated in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

As the Illini look to get their health back on track, they’re motivated after their experience last season, which ended with a loss to Connecticut in a national semifinal. — Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune, 27 Oct. 2026

Prosecutors filing an unsworn and unsigned superseding complaint overnight is likely to raise further questions about whether the case is politically motivated. — Sophia Vlahakis, CBS News, 27 Oct. 2026

Springfield is attacked by politically motivated red and blue monsters. — Joshua Kurp, Vulture, 26 Oct. 2026

The opinion adds to concerns of politically motivated dismissals at the DOJ. — Nate Perez, NPR, 26 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

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