MOTIVATES Synonyms: 74 Similar and Opposite Words

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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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 foundation allows Wyndham to analyze how individual loyalty members shop and what motivates them to book. — Jeff Fromm, Forbes.com, 2 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 In a broader reflection on his career evolution, Johnson explained what motivates him now. — Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 13 June 2026 Kim said his father Albert also motivates him on the course and academically as a straight-A student. — Dan Albano, Oc Register, 12 June 2026 This is the critical question that motivates hours of Pinterest perusing. — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 10 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for motivates

Verb

Spending time with friends and enjoying activities like golf, fishing, or attending sporting events encourages connection and supports an active lifestyle.

— Patricia Doherty, Travel + Leisure, 5 Aug. 2026
Boundless San Francisco, which encourages out-of-the-box ideas, echoes the venture capital ethos, Crankstart Chief Executive Officer Missy Narula said.

— Bloomberg, Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of encourages

Verb

Guadalupe River State Park entices visitors with its cool waters for tubing, paddling, and swimming and family-friendly campgrounds.

— Cameron Beall, Southern Living, 16 July 2026
The play, which won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize this year, entices on the page despite seeming overstuffed and curiously decentralized.

— Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026

Definition of entices

Verb

Despite the warning, Max persuades both the guide and the rest of the group to choose the red path instead.

— Isadora Wandermurem, Time, 29 July 2026
The open question is whether Wednesday’s beat and share price jump is just a blip, or the catalyst that persuades investors to give the stock a more durable re-rating.

— Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 23 July 2026

Definition of persuades

Verb

Homer, the enigmatic poet, still provokes and inspires us all.

— John Blake, CNN Money, 2 Aug. 2026
But given the profundity of her subject matter and the near-universal awe her art inspires, perhaps this sense of futility gestures at the incomprehensible, even transcendent aura around Petviashvili’s works.

— The Editors of ARTnews, ARTnews.com, 28 July 2026

Definition of inspires

Verb

Marketing material for the serum asserts that mineral-rich comfrey bolsters bones, tendons and ligaments and noni stimulates circulation and supports detoxification.

— Ben Davidson, Mercury News, 3 Aug. 2026
The percussive vibration unclogs impurities and excess sebum while the accompanying massage motion stimulates blood microcirculation and supports lymphatic drainage—exactly the mechanisms Cirino prioritizes in his professional treatments.

— Tanya Akim, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026

Definition of stimulates

Verb

The changing magnetic field induces a voltage in the conductor, the same basic electromagnetic induction principle used in electrical generators.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 4 Aug. 2026
Researchers exposed male mouse testicle cells, known as TM3 cells, to a chemical that induces oxidative stress.

— Samantha Agate, Sacbee.com, 29 July 2026

Definition of induces

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“Motivates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/motivates. Accessed 10 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of motivates

verb

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