HOW TO PRONOUNCE
motive
/ˈmoʊtɪv/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:55
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What does motive mean?
noun
- An incentive to act in a particular way; a reason or emotion that makes one want to do something; anything that prompts a choice of action.
- Something which causes someone to want to commit a crime; a reason for criminal behaviour.
- Alternative form of motif.
More meanings (7)
noun
- A party, gathering, or get-together.
- One's plans for the day or night.
- (obsolete) An idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting.
- (obsolete, rare) A limb or other bodily organ that can move.
verb
- To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.
adjective
- Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move
- Relating to motion and/or to its cause
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈmoʊtɪv/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
No motive of national policy has demanded, nor would public opinion have tolerated, a larger number of troops upon its domestic establishment.
It could be seen in her face that whatever motive she might have had in asking the youth indoors would soon appear.
More book examples (3)
From the same motive the boats were kept afloat that they might be less in fear of the vessel leaving her station.
From that time the principles introduced by Mr. Fairbairn have been adopted wherever steam is employed as a motive power in mills.
They employed it for their own salvation, and after the event they stated that their motive was the salvation of the State.