motive
UK/ˈməʊtɪv//ˈmoʊtɪv/
motive noun: an idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting. Also the alternative form of motif.
Noun
motive (plural motives)
- An idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting.
- there's something in a woman beyond all human delight; a magnetic virtue, a charming quality, an occult and powerful motive.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition III...
- An incentive to act in a particular way; a reason or emotion that makes one want to do something; anything that prompts a choice of action.
- Many of them at first seemed kind to him, but it turned out their motives were not entirely altruistic.1947, Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano, New York: Reynal & Hitchcock
- “Your job here is to find the good things in your colleagues—the things their state saw—and not focus on the bad.”
I said I understand.
“And, Joe, never attack another man’s motive, because you don’t know his motive.”2007, Joe Biden, Promises to Keep, New York: Random House, published 2008, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 110
- Synonyms:
- motivation, sake
- Something which causes someone to want to commit a crime; a reason for criminal behaviour.
- What would his motive be for burning down the cottage?
- No-one could understand why she had hidden the shovel; her motives were obscure at best.
- A limb or other bodily organ that can move.
- every joint and motive of her bodyc. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- A party, gathering, or get-together.
- One's plans for the day or night.
- What's the motive for tonight, lads?
Verb
motive (third-person singular simple present motives, present participle motiving, simple past and past participle motived)
Adjective
motive (not comparable)
- Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move
- a motive argument
- motive power
- Relating to motion and/or to its cause
- Debussy's melody is fractional, fragmentary. But at the core all his music is melodic and melody is its main motive force.1929, Arthur Lourié, “An Inquiry into Melody”, in Modern Music, volume VII, number 1, page 10
Also used as
motive is also the alternative form of motif.
motive meaning in Arabic, Persian, Thai and Vietnamese
motive in Arabic
- a cause to commit a crime
- حَافِز ḥāfiz
motive in Persian
- a cause to commit a crime
- انگیزه angize
motive in Thai
- a cause to commit a crime
- แรงจูงใจ rɛɛng-juung-jai
motive in Vietnamese
- a cause to commit a crime
- động cơ
Examples of motive in a sentence
- “Why should Eldridge commit murder?[…]There was only one possible motive—namely, he wished to avoid detection as James Selby of Anaconda Ltd. […]”1931, Francis Beeding, “10/6”, in Death Walks in Eastrepps:
- Witnesses claimed the motive appeared to be romantic jealousy.2026 July 16, Nicholas Muhoro, “Inside the 2004 Brianna Maitland Case: One of Vermont’s Most Haunting Mysteries”, in Skip Boring, archived...
- In the motive parts of animals may be discovered mutuall proportions; not only in those of Quadrupeds, but in the thigh-bone, legge, foot-bone, and claws of Birds.1658, Sir Thomas Browne, The Garden of Cyrus, Folio Society, published 2007, page 195:
Synonyms of motive
Forms of motive
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | motives |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | motives |
| present participle | motiving |
| past participle | motived |
| past | motived |
Origin of motive
From Middle English motif, from Anglo-Norman motif, Middle French motif, and their source, Late Latin motivum (“motive, moving cause”), neuter of motivus.
Words formed from motive
Phrases with motive
Words that rhyme with motive
Questions about motive
- What does motive mean?
- Motive means an idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting.
- What is motive in Arabic?
- Motive in Arabic is حَافِز (ḥāfiz). See Motive meaning in Arabic.
- How do you use motive in a sentence?
- “Why should Eldridge commit murder?[…]There was only one possible motive—namely, he wished to avoid detection as James Selby of Anaconda Ltd. […]”
- What part of speech is motive?
- Motive can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce motive?
- Motive is pronounced /ˈməʊtɪv/ (UK).
- What is the plural of motive?
- The plural of motive is motives.
Words near motive in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: motive (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-motive.ogg.
Cite this entry: “motive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/motive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.