1
: something (such as a need or desire) that causes a person to act
Revenge was the murderer's motive.
2
: a recurrent phrase or figure that is developed through the course of a musical composition
3
: motif
the composition's recurring flute motive
1
: of or relating to motion or the causing of motion
motive energy
2
: moving or tending to move to action
Examples of motive in a Sentence
Noun
Their motive in running away was to avoid being punished.
I think he's guilty of the crime. He had the motive, the means, and the opportunity.
She denied that her offer to help was based on selfish motives.
Recent Examples on the Web
Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 24 Oct. 2025
Investigators are exploring every possible motive in the early-morning shooting that killed Mark Calcagni, longtime general manager of San Francisco’s famous Condor Club, who was found gunned down near his Santa Rosa home earlier this month.
—Stepheny Price , Ashley Papa, FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2025
Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 17 Oct. 2025
Mass protests of the kind that rocked Madagascar in recent weeks provide cover – as well as motive and opportunity – for coup plotters.
—John Joseph Chin, The Conversation, 16 Oct. 2025
Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 17 Sep. 2025
Local police have yet to identify either a suspect or motive in the shooting, while the teenager’s friends and family mourn and look for answers.
—Sean Neumann, People.com, 8 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for motive
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Noun
New Paramount leadership’s motives to license Hollywood Arts to Netflix instead of keeping it in-house on Nickelodeon and Paramount+ — or taking the first run and offering Netflix second window — are not entirely clear but the strategy shift will bring in sizable revenue.
—Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 24 Oct. 2025
Investigators are exploring every possible motive in the early-morning shooting that killed Mark Calcagni, longtime general manager of San Francisco’s famous Condor Club, who was found gunned down near his Santa Rosa home earlier this month.
—Stepheny Price , Ashley Papa, FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
The cases feel grounded in real life and have texture beyond the basic facts, motive and perpetrator.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 17 Oct. 2025
Mass protests of the kind that rocked Madagascar in recent weeks provide cover – as well as motive and opportunity – for coup plotters.
—John Joseph Chin, The Conversation, 16 Oct. 2025
Verb
The study, by the libertarian think tank Cato Institute, found that terrorists motived by extreme slices of right-leaning ideology killed six times more people than those on the other side of the political spectrum between 1975 and Sept. 10, 2025.
—Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 17 Sep. 2025
Local police have yet to identify either a suspect or motive in the shooting, while the teenager’s friends and family mourn and look for answers.
—Sean Neumann, People.com, 8 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for motive
Cite this Entry
“Motive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/motive. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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Medical Definition
motive
noun
mo·tive
ˈmōt-iv 
: something (as a need or desire) that causes a person to act
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