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

The slowdown of opportunities for Israeli creatives and artists is not always politically motivated. —Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 20 June 2025

The incident comes on the heels of what officials called politically motivated shootings last week in which Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in their home and state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were wounded. —Lauren Fichten, CBS News, 19 June 2025

What keeps you motivated when the work feels especially difficult? —Olivia Marks, Vogue, 16 June 2025

Members and leadership are looking at the best way to move forward with increasing security measures to protect them from these politically motivated attacks. —Lauren Green, The Washington Examiner, 16 June 2025

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