How to use motive in a sentence

Examples of motive by meaning

More sentences with motive

• If you read between the lines a little, you will realize that he has deeper motives.From the entry read between the lines
• It began with the familiar political motives of civil service rationalization and downsizing.From the entry rationalization
• Although we don't like your methods, we applaud your motives.From the entry applaud
• His motives were barely fathomable to his friends.From the entry fathomable
• In order to maintain a consistency in the defense, I will follow the line established by attorney Jacobs of allowing the prosecution to suggest motives, and then refuting them.From the entry line
• Except for Euston-North Wales traffic, the long-standing practice of motive power changing at Crewe had ended.2020 June 17, David Clough, “Then and now: trains through Crewe”, in Rail, page 60. From the entry long-standing
• Autofiction reveals existential motives for writing, raising them to the status of components in the autobiographical debate.2019, Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf, editor, Handbook of Autobiography / Autofiction, Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 245. From the entry autofiction
• Instead, it must be the ‘desired main effect’ of your ulterior motive or intent.2016, Sangkul Kim, “Rethinking the Knowledge-Based Approach (II): A Purpose-based Theory of Individualistic Genocidal Intent”, in A…. From the entry ulterior
• Though not the primary focus of “Underground,” they are nuanced characters with conflicting motives.2016 March 9, Mary McNamara, “Review: The slave escape drama 'Underground' is a flawed but important retelling of America's original sin”…. From the entry slave-owner
• Along the way, we obtain p-adic realizations of mixed motives including p-adic comparison isomorphisms.2015, Frédéric Déglise, Wiesława Nizioł, “On p-adic absolute Hodge cohomology and syntomic coefficients, I”, in arXiv. From the entry syntomic
• "We are still investigating the motive and the whereabouts of any mastermind."2015 October 29, Samuel Chan, Clifford Lo, “Taiwan-Hong Kong police story: inside the secret joint operation to rescue the wealthy…. From the entry Xindian
• Both America and Europe offer farmers indefensible subsidies, but with different motives.2013 September 7, “Farming as rocket science”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8852. From the entry culture
• Each category of formicide is driven by an utterly distinct motive.2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 599. From the entry formicide
• Do victims of the Holocaust and anti-Judaism care about how logical and unmalicious Jacoby's motives are?2010 May 21, Michael Ejercito, “Libertarianism, Federalism, and Racism [comment section]”, in Ilya Somin, The Volokh Conspiracy, archived…. From the entry nithing
• This gives the ship the potential to move quickly, but does not apply any motive power.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Starships: Thrusters Codex entry. From the entry space-time
• Motives for serial murder have typically been classified within one of four broad explanatory frameworks.2008, Grover Maurice Godwin, Hunting Serial Predators, page 1. From the entry sociogenic
• One motive for procreating is to 'reproduce yourself'—to create a 'mini-me'.2005, Sue Richardson, Margot R. Prior, No Time to Lose: The Wellbeing of Australia's Children, →ISBN, page 71. From the entry mini-me
• She thought back over the afternoon and decided it didn’t matter what his motives were.2005, Sandra Carey Cody, Put Out the Light, Avalon Books, →ISBN. From the entry good cop/bad cop
• The entelechial motive is one of the most purely human motives in Burke.2003, Kenneth Burke, edited by William H. Rueckert and Angelo Bonadonna, On Human Nature: A Gathering while Everything Flows, 1967–1984…. From the entry entelechial
• Motive is a metaphor with its meaning sheathed like a dagger.2003, Martha Tuck Rozett, Constructing a World: Shakespeare's England and the New Historical Fiction, page 9. From the entry mismaneuver
• Protesters who demand that this brilliantly humane enterprise be stopped should have their motives questioned.2000 August 21, “letter”, in Time. From the entry hand waving
• Here, in the succinctest terms, was expressed the true motive behind the establishment of villages.1987, Paul Carter, “A Wandering State”, in The Road to Botany Bay: An Essay in Spatial History, London: Faber and Faber, →ISBN, page 336. From the entry succinct
• Behavior is not reducible to origins, causes, intentions, motives, goals, or desires.1985, Raymond Carney, The Films of John Cassavetes, Pragmatism, Modernism, and the Movies, page 186. From the entry antiessentialist
• In the conflict theory, there is an impulse or a motive, and an opposing counterimpulse or countermotive.1982, Introducing Psychoanalytic Theory, page 119. From the entry counterimpulse
• He is supported both by fellow tomato-philes and those with a less altruistic motive.1979 July 2, “Congressional Tomato War”, in Santa Cruz Sentinel, 124th year, number 154, Santa Cruz, Calif., page 27. From the entry tomato-phile
• In essence, that was the inspiring motive behind their colonial satellitization.1972, Akademika. From the entry satellitization
• Driving methods have a direct bearing on fuel consumption with every type of motive power.1963 February, “Diesel locomotive faults and their remedies”, in Modern Railways, page 99. From the entry consumption
• The locomotive shed at Portadown is gradually becoming the principal Great Northern section steam motive power depot.1961 March, “The Irish scene”, in Trains Illustrated, page 138. From the entry locomotive shed
• We ascribe or impute motives to others and avow them or confess to them in ourselves.1956–1960, Richard Stanley Peters, “2: Motives and Motivation”, in The Concept of Motivation, Routledge & Kegan Paul (second edition…. From the entry impute
• Virtuous motives, trammeled by inertia and timidity, are no match for armed and resolute wickedness.1948, Winston Churchill, The Second World War. From the entry trammel
• The poet is a man without a profit or any other kind of ulterior motive.1941 December 8, “Poetry”, in Time. From the entry ulterior motive
• The concluding motive is derived from the sof-passuk of the Prophetic mode.1929, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish Music: Its Historical Development, page 175. From the entry sof pasuk
• Their motives, therefore, for including interest help to explain their contentions.1920, John Packard Jordan, Cost Accounting; Principles and Practice, page 438. From the entry inclusionist

Meaning of motive

1. noun An idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting.
2. noun 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.
3. noun Something which causes someone to want to commit a crime; a reason for criminal behaviour.

Full definition of motive

More about motive

• Meaning of motive
• Synonyms of motive
• Plural of motive
• Motive in Arabic
• Motive in Persian
• Motive in Thai
• Motive in Vietnamese

Questions about motive in a sentence

How do you use motive in a sentence?

Motive is used as a noun, verb and adjective. For example: “What would his motive be for burning down the cottage?”

What is a short sentence with motive?

“a motive argument”

What does motive mean?

Motive means an idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting.