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

Midterms At this stage of the election cycle, Democrats are more motivated and more likely to say these midterm elections are important. —Emily Guskin, ABC News, 3 May 2026

Residents were so motivated to vote for the Democratic challengers and boot out the Republican incumbents that turnout doubled from the previous election. —Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026

San Jose Police Department Homicide detectives believe at least two suspects were involved and that the stabbing was gang motivated. —Tim Fang, CBS News, 1 May 2026

Both Lemon and Fort pled not guilty and have characterized the charges against them as politically motivated, maintaining that their coverage of the event was legally protected under the First Amendment. —Brieanna J. Frank, USA Today, 30 Apr. 2026

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