Synonyms for motivate
ˈmoʊ təˌveɪt

Princeton's WordNet(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate these synonyms:

1. motivate, actuate, propel, move, prompt, incite(verb)

   give an incentive for action

   "This moved me to sacrifice my career"

   Synonyms:
   spark off, incite, remind, act, trip, spark, run, propel, impress, strike, impel, instigate, trigger off, move, displace, make a motion, trigger, inspire, prod, proceed, affect, be active, set off, go, prompt, activate, locomote, touch off, cue, travel, egg on, actuate, stir up

Wiktionary(3.75 / 4 votes)Rate these synonyms:

1. motivate(verb)

   Antonyms:
   demotivate

2. motivate(verb)

   Antonyms:
   demotivate

3. motivate(verb)

   Antonyms:
   demotivate

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate these synonyms:

1. actuate

   anything that pushes someone or something forward

   her mother's motivational talk spurred her daughter to endure high school.

   Submitted by rinat on June 1, 2017  

PPDB, the paraphrase database(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate these synonyms:

1. List of paraphrases:

   motivating, justify, encourage, inspire, stimulate

How to pronounce motivate?

Alex

US English

Daniel

British

Karen

Australian

Veena

Indian

How to say motivate in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use motivate in a sentence?

1. Holly Hall:

   Research has found that it does tend to motivate people.

2. Tony Dorsett:

   To succeed... you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you.

3. David Attenborough:

   The spirit of the Moonshot can guide us today as we confront the serious challenges we face on earth, this year Prince William and a global alliance launch the most prestigious Environment Prize in history... A global prize designed to motivate and inspire a new generation of thinkers, leaders and dreamers to think differently.

4. Angela Meadows:

   Common wisdom suggests that this could motivate them to change, but almost all the evidence points the other way, self-stigma is associated with more binge eating, less frequent exercise, and so on.

5. Jon Scieszka:

   I always tried to really motivate kids by getting them excited about stuff – and even being a little mysterious about it, just saying, "I don't know. We got this stuff. We have to figure it out. It's up to you guys," and then lay something on them. And I always found that really piqued their interest better than lecturing them.

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