How to Use ulterior in a Sentence

ulterior

adjective
  • For him, the tree is saved for the tree's sake alone, without an ulterior motive.
    Rabbi Avi Weiss, Jewish Journal, 21 Aug. 2017
  • For him, the tree is saved for the tree’s sake alone, without an ulterior motive.
    Rabbi Avi Weiss, sun-sentinel.com, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Does the cop snooping around the house have ulterior motives here?
    Kaitlin Reilly, refinery29.com, 14 Apr. 2020
  • And there may be ulterior motives designed to be used in talks with the union for the players for a new labor agreement.
    Maury Brown, Forbes, 21 June 2021
  • But while Carmichael seems kind and friendly, his ulterior motives may be the darkest this show has seen yet.
    Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 1 July 2020
  • On the faces of a child, a vicar, a cop; sometimes threatening, other times more timid, but with a clear sense of ulterior motives.
    K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 20 May 2022
  • But Triss has her own ulterior motives for making the trek.
    Scott Meslow, Vulture, 17 Dec. 2021
  • Now, Warren is first and foremost a politician and there could be a lot of ulterior motives here.
    Luke Darby, GQ, 3 Nov. 2017
  • There is an ulterior motive – to avoid traffic and the 20 mph zones before and after school.
    cleveland.com, 23 Aug. 2019
  • That, Blinken said, is proof of Putin’s ulterior motive.
    Matthew Lee, chicagotribune.com, 20 Jan. 2022
  • Secrets and ulterior motives are de rigueur at work, and with no respite from colleagues, gloves come off.
    Mary Cadden, USA TODAY, 9 Sep. 2020
  • The Comey who emerges in these pages seems to doubt his aides and his bosses and suspect everyone around him of ulterior motives.
    Washington Post, 25 Sep. 2020
  • Los Angeles has a bad rap for being a fake place; a land of fillers to plump up our sagging faces and broad smiles to hide ulterior motives.
    Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2021
  • The ulterior motive was to use our success to change where the songwriter sits in the economic equation.
    Jem Aswad, Variety, 21 Sep. 2021
  • For 90 minutes, perhaps people could resist the urge to be cynical, to search for the ulterior motive, to be on high alert.
    Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2020
  • Ivory praised Nelson as a rare breed of AAU coach who truly has the interests of his players at heart and has no ulterior motives.
    Nate Weitzer, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Feb. 2020
  • For its own sake, and not some ulterior parenting goal?
    Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 15 Dec. 2023
  • But this is the Tudor court after all, which means Catherine has plenty of her own ulterior motives and bids for power.
    Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 11 June 2022
  • A top aide to the mayor suggested the firefighters have an ulterior motive for lending a hand with the recall.
    Daniel Bice, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 17 July 2017
  • In her caption, Bell joked there was an ulterior motive behind all of Shepard's hard work.
    Kelly Wynne, PEOPLE.com, 31 May 2022
  • The camps—like Buchenwald—that stood on East German land were better-maintained, but with an ulterior motive.
    Mattie Kahn, The Atlantic, 5 May 2022
  • Plus, Davenport might have ulterior motives for hiring Dan in the first place.
    Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 17 Jan. 2022
  • At the Tiedeman house, Aleksander is asking someone on the phone to figure out Clausen’s ulterior motives.
    Abbey Maxbauer, refinery29.com, 25 June 2019
  • Patrick Curley, chief of staff to Barrett, has suggested that the firefighters union and Jansen had ulterior motives for their roles in the recall drive.
    Daniel Bice, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5 Sep. 2017
  • Another fan pointed out that Paige/Michelle's friend who came to talk to Preacher could've had an ulterior motive.
    Amanda Garrity, Good Housekeeping, 5 Dec. 2020
  • But the rescue mission takes a dark turn as the group fight to stay alive in freezing temperatures and ulterior motives are revealed.
    Sydney Clarke, refinery29.com, 29 June 2021
  • Hadder isn't sure if NGM has any ulterior motives for suspending the project.
    Scott Sonner, Star Tribune, 7 Aug. 2020
  • On the quiet, though, our heroes have an ulterior motive.
    Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 12 June 2020
  • The problem with this latest Ronaldo rumour, as with all rumours linking him to United over the years, is that there may still be ulterior motives at play.
    SI.com, 25 June 2018
  • Shallcross also opened up about weeding out women with ulterior motives to finding a true connection as the show progresses.
    Stephanie Wenger, Peoplemag, 30 Jan. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ulterior.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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