motivated

adjective

mo·​ti·​vat·​ed ˈmō-tə-ˌvā-təd 

: provided with a motive : having an incentive or a strong desire to do well or succeed in some pursuit

a motivated employee

Courses are being offered on college campuses for those who are highly motivated but who without such help often drop out and are lost to society and themselves.

—Carol Kort

In a sporting context, for example, athletes who consistently seem to play hard and rarely concede defeat are often described as highly motivated or "competitive" by the media.

—Robert C. Eklund

Examples of motivated in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Opposition politicians criticized Netanyahu and suggested that Bar’s firing would be a politically motivated move. —Mitchell McCluskey, CNN, 16 Mar. 2025

Given his overt nationalism, undoubtedly Shah was extremely motivated to lift the standard of India women’s cricket with the national team never having won a World Cup in either the T20 or 50-over formats. —Tristan Lavalette, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2025

The president denied all the allegations and said the cases were politically motivated. —Alexander Mallin, ABC News, 14 Mar. 2025

In the past month, President Trump and his close adviser Elon Musk have repeatedly claimed that the decision to leave Williams and Wilmore in space was politically motivated. —Geoff Brumfiel, NPR, 12 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1903, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing motivated

• self-motivated

Rhymes for motivated

• abdicated
• abrogated
• acclimated
• activated
• actuated
• adumbrated
• advocated
• aggravated
• aggregated
• agitated
• allocated
• alternated