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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 That must come from leaders who know their people, understand what motivates them and recognize contributions in ways that feel genuine, relevant and personal. — Candy Fernandez, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2026 That could change if the Emmy wins give the process new momentum and motivates all sides to find a winning series format. — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2026 Affordability also motivates votes Affordability was also top of mind for Lisa Bennett, who works in environmental health and safety at the Rhode Island School of Design. — Whitman Littlefield, The Providence Journal, 9 Sep. 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for motivates
  1. encourages
  2. entices
  3. forces
  4. persuades
  5. inspires
  6. stimulates
  7. induces
  8. provokes
Verb
  • The low prices have a trickle-down effect that leads fans to eat and drink more, and encourages them to try more of the culinary team’s offerings.
    — Henri Hollis, AJC.com, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Fairfield Police Department encourages residents to report any concerning coyote activity to Fairfield Animal Control at 203-254-4857.
    — Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 16 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
  • The story follows Alex, a photographer and young father in London, who faces an unexpected accident by the seaside, which forces him to contend with how quickly an idyllic life can slip away.
    — Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026
  • This strains finance teams and forces them to focus on manual workarounds instead of the strategic work AI should free them up for.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 14 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
  • Social media inspires the flight, the flight fuels the haul and the haul sends the next person spiraling through browser tabs.
    — Ashley Lynch, Miami Herald, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Even on a good day, Michigan is not a program that inspires many warm and fuzzy feelings among casual fans of college football.
    — Austin Meek, New York Times, 11 Sep. 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
  • Perfecting the work inch by inch, writing from the first word toward the last, displays the courage and fear this method induces.
    — James Folta, Literary Hub, 16 Sep. 2026
  • 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
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 22 Sep. 2026.

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