motivates

verb

present tense third-person singular of motivate
as in encourages
to rouse to action or activity The presence of treats motivated the dogs to obey their owner's commands. They drove a campaign to motivate voters to show up to the polls.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of motivates Avoiding a loss motivates more than securing an equivalent gain. — Jamil Wyne, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026 Plastered across the top of Jeff Bezos’ social media accounts is a history lesson that clearly motivates him. — Simon Hughes, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026 Happen Bank motivates its depositors with a 4% base annual percentage yield for savings accounts with more than $250 in average monthly deposits and offers 2% back for on-time loan payments for checking accounts. — Justin Zacks, CNBC, 19 Aug. 2026 Elsewhere in his conversation with PEOPLE, 50 Cent reflected on what motivates his success after decades in the entertainment industry. — Erin Clack, PEOPLE, 2 Aug. 2026 What motivates a person to push past their limits doesn’t have to be poetic or even coherent. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 30 July 2026 What needs to be consolidated to create a space that motivates you? — Usa Today, USA Today, 19 July 2026 That the notion of being a more perfect union, not the perfect union, is really what motivates me. — NBC news, 5 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for motivates
  1. encourages
  2. entices
  3. forces
  4. persuades
  5. inspires
  6. stimulates
  7. induces
  8. provokes
Verb
  • The resolution also encourages teaching about the trade-offs that arise from depicting a spherical planet on a flat map.
    — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Her state requires such instruction in public high schools and encourages age-appropriate instruction earlier.
    — Jennifer Peltz, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of encourages
Verb
  • The high-concept thriller stars Valeria Bruni Tedeschi as a demonic character called The Stranger, who entices a young mother played by Jasmine Trinca into forging a Faustian pact.
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 3 Sep. 2026
  • All of this casts doubt on whether the event will pull the kind of star power that entices TV networks to break their regular prime-time programming and compel viewers to skip an NFL game to tune in.
    — Daniel Strauss, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of entices
Verb
  • For the third time tonight, Evans forces Winter Park to turn the ball over on downs, this time at the 8 yard line.
    — Buddy Collings, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Sep. 2026
  • La Gradiva takes a tragic turn in its final act that forces a reexamination of the loose, observant filmmaking that led to it.
    — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of forces
Verb
  • The eight-episode series, written by Peter Ocko, follows a giant tech conglomerate that persuades the city to place a powerful robot on its police force – a robot implanted with the consciousness of a beloved fallen officer, Alex Murphy (Stevens).
    — Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Nia then persuades Tefa to join her in smuggling cell phones into the regional prison.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of persuades
Verb
  • This book inspires football players who are no longer active on the field to embrace life with a positive perception, maintaining their passion to continue pursuing their dreams and building a healthy personal and professional life.
    — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Gallup found that just 2% of Fortune 500 CHROs strongly agree their performance management system actually inspires employees to improve.
    — Rhett Power, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of inspires
Verb
  • Research also shows Mānuka stimulates keratinocytes—the cells that make up about 90 percent of the skin’s surface—to proliferate and migrate faster.
    — Lauren Valenti, InStyle, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Muscle is what puts tension on the bones — good tension that stimulates bone cell turnover, Prather says.
    — Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of stimulates
Verb
  • Like most psychedelics, psilocybin’s effects are the result of interactions with a specific type of serotonin receptor in the brain, which both triggers the characteristic hallucinations and euphoria and induces neural plasticity.
    — Mike McRae August 19, New Atlas, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Under Nevada law, someone who aids or abets a crime—or encourages, hires, commands, or otherwise induces another person to commit it—can be prosecuted as a principal.
    — Rebecca Schneid, Time, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of induces
Verb
  • The development provokes a leadership shake-up on both committees, prompting speculation on who will fill the spots when the next Congress opens in January.
    — Emily Hallas, The Washington Examiner, 10 Sep. 2026
  • The rooms were part of Kusama’s ongoing exploration of self-obliteration and her career-long ambition to create work that provokes a keen awareness of both one’s individual insignificance and place in the wider cosmic system.
    — Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of provokes

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Cite this Entry

“Motivates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/motivates. Accessed 15 Sep. 2026.

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