What is another word for motive?
Synonyms for motive
ˈmoʊ tɪvmo·tive
This thesaurus page includes all potential synonyms, words with the same meaning and similar terms for the word motive.
Wiktionary
motiveadjective
Synonyms:
motif, motivate, motional, moving, motivationmotivenoun
An incentive to act; a reason for doing something; anything that prompted a choice of action.
Synonyms:
moving, motivation, motif, motional, motivatemotivenoun
Relating to motion and/or to its cause
If you listen carefully, you can hear the flutes mimicking the cello motive.
Synonyms:
motivation, motif, moving, motional
English Synonyms and Antonyms
motive
The efficient cause, that which makes anything to be or be done, is the common meaning of the word, as in the saying "There is no effect without a cause." Every man instinctively recognizes himself acting through will as the cause of his own actions. The Creator is the Great First Cause of all things. A condition is something that necessarily precedes a result, but does not produce it. An antecedent simply precedes a result, with or without any agency in producing it; as, Monday is the invariable antecedent of Tuesday, but not the cause of it. The direct antonym of cause is effect, while that of antecedent is consequent. An occasion is some event which brings a cause into action at a particular moment; gravitation and heat are the causes of an avalanche; the steep incline of the mountain-side is a necessary condition, and the shout of the traveler may be the occasion of its fall. Causality is the doctrine or principle of causes, causation the action or working of causes. Compare DESIGN; REASON.
Synonyms:
actor, agent, antecedent, author, causality, causation, cause, condition, creator, designer, former, fountain, occasion, origin, originator, power, precedent, reason, reason, source, springAntonyms:
consequence, creation, development, effect, end, end, event, fruit, issue, outcome, outgrowth, product, resultPreposition:
The cause of the disaster; cause for interference.
Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms
motive
Synonyms:
inducement, purpose, design, prompting, stimulus, reason, impulse, incitementAntonyms:
execution, action, effort, deed, attempt, project, preventive, deterrent, dissuasive
Princeton's WordNet
motivation, motive, neednoun
the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior
"we did not understand his motivation"; "he acted with the best of motives"
Synonyms:
indigence, need, motivating, demand, pauperization, want, motivation, pauperism, motif, penuryAntonyms:
noncausal, noncausativemotif, motivenoun
a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music
Synonyms:
motivation, motif, need, themeAntonyms:
noncausal, noncausativemotif, motiveadjective
a design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration
Synonyms:
motivation, motif, need, themeAntonyms:
noncausal, noncausativemotive(a), motoradjective
causing or able to cause motion
"a motive force"; "motive power"; "motor energy"
Antonyms:
noncausative, noncausalmotivative(a), motive(a), motivatingadjective
impelling to action
"it may well be that ethical language has primarily a motivative function"- Arthur Pap; "motive pleas"; "motivating arguments"
Antonyms:
noncausal, noncausative
Matched Categories
Dictionary of English Synonymes
motivenoun
Synonyms:
inducement, incentive, impulse, incitement, stimulus, prompting, influence, reason, ground, principle, consideration, cause, occasion, prime mover, why and wherefore
Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated Words
motivenoun
Synonyms:
incentive, inducement, incitement
Suggested Resources
motive
Song lyrics by motive -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by motive on the Lyrics.com website.
Words popularity by usage frequency
ranking | word | |
---|---|---|
#183 | need | |
#245 | design | |
#254 | want | |
#307 | power | |
#419 | source | |
#420 | author | |
#534 | mobile | |
#1067 | condition | |
#1223 | cause | |
#1246 | reason | |
#1249 | spring | |
#1258 | purpose | |
#1346 | ground | |
#1441 | agent | |
#1593 | moving | |
#1753 | former | |
#1829 | demand | |
#2168 | theme | |
#2518 | origin | |
#2589 | designer | |
#4288 | actor | |
#5463 | occasion | |
#5715 | creator | |
#7212 | incentive | |
#7769 | motivation | |
#8063 | fountain | |
#13290 | impulse | |
#13930 | motif | |
#16030 | stimulus | |
#16696 | precedent | |
#16875 | motive | |
#18233 | motivate | |
#19983 | originator | |
#24242 | motivating | |
#26096 | prompting | |
#32060 | causation | |
#34046 | causality | |
#44502 | antecedent | |
#53505 | inducement | |
#56224 | incitement | |
#138780 | motional | |
#168469 | penury | |
#210874 | indigence | |
#316503 | pauperism |
How to use motive in a sentence?
It has also not yet been determined if the motive was a hate crime, domestic terrorism, a personal act of violence against a specific individual, or other motive as there are numerous individuals and entities tied to the building in the vicinity of the explosion.
Holly, you can tell, had this ulterior motive every minute being at the Mansion, and that motive was -- it was clear as day -- she wanted Hef's kids, she wanted a piece of Playboy and she wanted to marry Hef for, obviously, his will.
You’re trying to figure out what the individual’s motive is, you’re not necessarily going to report on the motive. But you want to understand why they would leak this information and if they have motive to distort the information.
Though a good motive cannot sanction a bad action, a bad motive will always vitiate a good action. In common and trivial matters we may act without motives, but in momentous ones the most careful deliberation is wisdom.
To act from pure benevolence is not possible for finite beings. Human benevolence is mingled with vanity, interest, or some other motive.
Translations for motive
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- حافزArabic
- motiuCatalan, Valencian
- pohnutka, motiv, hybnýCzech
- bevæggrund, motivDanish
- Beweggrund, MotivGerman
- motivoSpanish
- liikunta, aihe, liike, vaikutin, liikkeellepaneva, motivoida, motiiviFinnish
- mouvant, motiver, thème, moteur, motif, mobileFrench
- réasúnIrish
- מניע, מוטיבHebrew
- indítékHungarian
- motivoItalian
- מניעHebrew
- 動機Japanese
- 동기, 動機Korean
- ratioLatin
- motivatie, motiveren, onderwerp, motief, motioneel, beweegreden, bewegendDutch
- motivoPortuguese
- motiv, rațiuneRomanian
- мотив, поводRussian
- мо̀тӣв, mòtīvSerbo-Croatian
- motivSwedish
- 動機, động cơVietnamese
Get even more translations for motive »
Translation
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"motive." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Web. 7 Dec. 2023. <https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/motive>.
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