How to Use motivate in a Sentence

motivate

verb
Definition of motivatenext
Synonyms for motivatenext
  • No one knows what motivated him to act in such a violent way.
  • The Bills still have things to play for and that will motivate Josh Allen to run a tight ship.
    — Victoria Hernandez, USA TODAY, 22 Dec. 2022
  • The drive to better his craft is what motivates the 6-foot-2 point guard.
    — Sam Cohn, Baltimore Sun, 5 Apr. 2023
  • Williams couldn’t motivate his guys in what should have been the biggest game of the season.
    — Greg Moore, The Arizona Republic, 11 May 2023
  • She’s brought the same care to coaching, a unique style that shows there’s more than one way to motivate.
    — Luca Evans, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2023
  • Use a New Year's quote to keep you inspired and motivate your TL.
    — Carolyn Twersky, Seventeen, 9 Dec. 2022
  • There are about 100 pins include to motivate you to plan your next trip.
    — Amanda Garrity, Good Housekeeping, 4 Jan. 2023
  • Use the full moon energy to motivate you to achieve those goals.
    — Jacqueline Tempera, Women's Health, 30 June 2023
  • Petrie said that perceived slight will not motivate the Toreros.
    — Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Dec. 2022
  • The killing was motivated by an attempt to steal pills from the victim.
    — Louis Casiano, Fox News, 13 Feb. 2024
  • Both will be motivated by more than a ring in the finals.
    — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 May 2024
  • That was all the red corner could do to motivate their fighter.
    — Tyler R. Tynes, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2023
  • Feeney said the recent deaths of her husband and son motivated her to reach out to Felder, who is now in his mid-80s.
    — Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 28 Nov. 2023
  • There seemed to be hesitation in the crowd, and Chucky was trying to motivate the troops.
    — Andrew Meier, New York Times, 10 Dec. 2022
  • Sharing your ideas will motivate others to pitch in and help.
    — Eugenia Last, The Mercury News, 23 Feb. 2024
  • This is what has motivated me from the 1970s until now.
    — USA Today, 19 Mar. 2023
  • Jonathan Gannon is about as motivating as the sound of your alarm clock going off in the morning.
    — Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 5 Sep. 2023
  • That’s a question that motivates researchers like Itoh and Abrams.
    — Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 16 June 2023
  • Passions are the factors that motivate people both at work and at home.
    — Laurel Donnellan, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024
  • Images that reveal the costs of climate change can motivate the public to act.
    — Caterina De Biasio, Vogue, 3 July 2024
  • More and more users seem to be asking for advice that will hurt their feelings enough to motivate them.
    — Renée Onque, CNBC, 25 Oct. 2024
  • Because small amounts of progress can help motivate borrowers to stay the course.
    — Ivana Pino, Fortune, 11 Nov. 2022
  • Nothing motivates me more than knowing there’s a lot of people that want more from me.
    — Charis McGowan, Variety, 20 Mar. 2024
  • If that wasn’t enough to motivate you, this also landed a spot on this year’s Oprah’s Favorite Things.
    — Vanessa Powell, ELLE, 14 Nov. 2022
  • The specific start and end times motivate people to buy on whim for fear of missing out, says Thomas.
    — Nerdwallet, The Mercury News, 2 July 2024
  • Mifepristone isn’t the only drug to fall along the social fault lines motivating the suit.
    — Annalisa Merelli, Quartz, 21 Apr. 2023
  • That has motivated Perez even more to come through for his team in 2024 — from making the Opening Day roster until the end of the season.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 26 Feb. 2024
  • Take the initiative, and be the one to motivate and influence what happens next.
    — Eugenia Last, The Mercury News, 17 May 2024
  • But change comes for us all nonetheless and Mars soon leaves your sign to go motivate Leo instead.
    — Jennifer Culp, Them, 16 Oct. 2024
  • People can, Webster told me, get too emotional about politics: Too much anger, anxiety, or fear might motivate people to support political violence, or isolate themselves from any person or news source that doesn’t confirm their beliefs.
    — Shayla Love, The Atlantic, 25 Oct. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'motivate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: