ulterior motive

noun

: a secret reason
I think she has an ulterior motive for helping us.

Examples of ulterior motive in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Even if people aren’t sharing with an ulterior motive, there’s still the issue of whether these spontaneous videos could worsen mental health. Tanyel Mustafa, refinery29.com, 16 July 2024 Questions with an ulterior motive are also not a good move. Sophie Mancini, Vogue, 2 July 2024 His ulterior motive was to row for Oxford and get a chance to compete in The Boat Race, one of oldest and most prestigious amateur sporting events in the world, where Oxford rows against Cambridge. Lori Riley, Hartford Courant, 16 May 2024 Editors’ Picks Image Buffalo country My trekking plan always had an ulterior motive: to justify gorging on Cilento food and wine. Nina Burleigh, New York Times, 21 May 2024 Another commenter suggested that the bride and groom may have had an ulterior motive with the group of uninvited friends. Erin Clack, Peoplemag, 8 Apr. 2024 But, later that day, Abbott shared an ulterior motive with a crowd at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, in Austin. Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2024 But Creel and other friends insist Ackman’s campaign against DEI is free of cynicism or ulterior motive. Elizabeth Dwoskin, Washington Post, 10 Feb. 2024 Perhaps unsurprisingly, the meal came with an ulterior motive. Amanda Yeager, Baltimore Sun, 31 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ulterior motive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near ulterior motive

Cite this Entry

“Ulterior motive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ulterior%20motive. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

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