motivator

noun

mo·​ti·​va·​tor ˈmō-tə-ˌvā-tər 

plural motivators

: one that motivates or impels someone or something

a subconscious motivator of behavior

: such as

a

: a factor or situation that causes people to feel motivated to do something : incentive

Only a fool, though, would deny that money is a very real and basic need and, of course, a motivator of sorts.

—Robert W. Corl

Exercising with someone else … can be a motivator.

—Joanne Lannin

Andre Harris, without basketball as a motivator, had slipped back into bad habits academically.

—John Feinstein

b

: a person who motivates others

But Romo's not an enabler; he's a motivator, says [Jessica] Simpson. "If I'm not feeling good about myself, he'll say, 'Get your butt up and go to the gym then!'"

—Michelle Tan

Examples of motivator in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This reality makes the possibility of a plea deal, where Netanyahu might agree to leave politics in exchange for avoiding prison, a powerful motivator. —Daoud Kuttab, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 July 2025

But Ballard, the show, clings on to that incident as the guiding motivator for nearly everything Ballard does. —Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 11 July 2025

Urgency And Scarcity: Tap Into The Fear Of Missing Out Scarcity can be a powerful motivator. —Gabriel Shaoolian, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025

The main motivator for leaving was to be near my parents who moved to the area a couple of years ago. —David Plazas, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined above