as in inspirational
serving or likely to arouse action or activity
A poster with a motivational message was hung above the water cooler. The conference will feature talks by some well-known motivational speakers.
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Recent Examples of motivational
The coaches’ office is no bigger than a janitor’s closet, but the yellow brick walls are lined with championship pictures, motivational quotes, magazine covers of female athletes, soccer star Hope Solo, and accomplishments of each coach.
—
Pj Green
april 30, Kansas City Star, 30 Apr. 2026
That is not motivational optimism.
—William Jones, USA Today, 28 Apr. 2026
Kiffin, who shares more motivational quotes and messages on X than your chronically online, middle-aged aunt, opted to tag the official football accounts of Ole Miss and Tennessee on Saturday with his latest.
—Mark Harris Outkick, FOXNews.com, 26 Apr. 2026
Senior pitcher/second baseman Ellie Peck, a Lewis recruit who reached base three times and scored three runs, confirmed that Kuefler’s motivational ploy seems to be working.
—Rick Armstrong, Chicago Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026
After being released from prison, Belfort became an entrepreneur and motivational speaker.
—Christopher Edwards, PEOPLE, 22 Apr. 2026
Chris Herren Chris Herren, a former Boston Celtics basketball player from Fall River, is now a motivational speaker on the topic of substance use prevention and wellness.
—Neal Riley, CBS News, 19 Apr. 2026
After retirement, Schmidt became one of his country's most popular motivational speakers.
—ABC News, 17 Apr. 2026
This odd year will turn to motivational fuel by then, like water to wine.
—Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel, 16 Apr. 2026
Pj Green
april 30, Kansas City Star, 30 Apr. 2026
That is not motivational optimism.
—William Jones, USA Today, 28 Apr. 2026
Kiffin, who shares more motivational quotes and messages on X than your chronically online, middle-aged aunt, opted to tag the official football accounts of Ole Miss and Tennessee on Saturday with his latest.
—Mark Harris Outkick, FOXNews.com, 26 Apr. 2026
Senior pitcher/second baseman Ellie Peck, a Lewis recruit who reached base three times and scored three runs, confirmed that Kuefler’s motivational ploy seems to be working.
—Rick Armstrong, Chicago Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026
After being released from prison, Belfort became an entrepreneur and motivational speaker.
—Christopher Edwards, PEOPLE, 22 Apr. 2026
Chris Herren Chris Herren, a former Boston Celtics basketball player from Fall River, is now a motivational speaker on the topic of substance use prevention and wellness.
—Neal Riley, CBS News, 19 Apr. 2026
After retirement, Schmidt became one of his country's most popular motivational speakers.
—ABC News, 17 Apr. 2026
This odd year will turn to motivational fuel by then, like water to wine.
—Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel, 16 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for motivational
Adjective
-
Michael wrote inspirational advice to himself on sticky notes.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
24 Apr. 2026
-
The judging was purely on Aggression, Damage and Control, however the imagination and creativity seen in the pits was inspirational.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
That’s what made his performance last night so inspiring.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
29 Apr. 2026
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But even more inspiring was their determination to overcome enormous losses and difficulties to try to make new lives for themselves.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Motivational.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/motivational. Accessed 4 May. 2026.
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