motivated

adjective

mo·​ti·​vat·​ed ˈmō-tə-ˌvā-təd How to pronounce motivated (audio)
: 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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
To stay motivated, try picking a repayment strategy, such as the avalanche method or the snowball method, which respectively prioritize paying off the highest-interest debt first or paying off your debt from smallest to largest balance. Jessica Dickler, CNBC, 28 May 2025 The fatal attack was part of a wave of racially motivated killings during that era in the United States, especially in the south. Sam Gillette, People.com, 27 May 2025 Meta, who was president from 2017 to 2022, has been an outspoken critic of Rama and has denounced his case as a politically motivated attack on an opposition leader. Llazar Semini, Los Angeles Times, 27 May 2025 Trump contends that white South African farmers are being murdered in a racially motivated genocide, and that the South African government has permitted itself to seize their land. Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune, 26 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for motivated

Word History

First Known Use

1903, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of motivated was in 1903

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Motivated.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/motivated. Accessed 6 Jun. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on motivated

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!