as in inspirational
serving or likely to arouse action or activity
A poster with a motivational message was hung above the water cooler. The conference will feature talks by some well-known motivational speakers.
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Recent Examples of motivational
Strimel is now a motivational speaker who regularly talks about her experience with breast cancer.
—
Korin Miller, Flow Space, 27 Oct. 2025
Fontanez, who has cut hair for everyone from Tom Brady to Nelly and even former President Barack Obama, broadened his career focus during the pandemic to include motivational speaking.
—Hedy Phillips, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
Wallace’s 6-year-old All-Star challenge lingers like one of Murray’s motivational dares to a young teammate.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 22 Oct. 2025
Carpenter also starred in sketches throughout the evening as a 12-year-old boy podcast host, a girlboss motivational speaker who suffers a head injury, and a singing washing machine.
—Walden Green, Pitchfork, 19 Oct. 2025
Early in the segment, Carpenter’s character, Queen Lisha—who paired motivational speeches with upbeat choreography—suffered a concussion after her backup dancers threw her a touch too hard into a window.
—Paula Mejía, The Atlantic, 19 Oct. 2025
Guilt is one of our main motivational tools.
—Bill Hoogterp, Fortune, 19 Oct. 2025
Richard Propes is an activist, author, minister and motivational speaker.
—Heather Bushman, IndyStar, 10 Oct. 2025
There’s Andrea Labbée, a motivational speaker with a theater background; Gaile Holland, for decades a local ballet teacher whose former students include Winter; and Lisa Nalven, a veteran of notable modern dance companies, now a photographer impassioned by human diversity.
—Guillermo Perez, Miami Herald, 7 Oct. 2025
Korin Miller, Flow Space, 27 Oct. 2025
Fontanez, who has cut hair for everyone from Tom Brady to Nelly and even former President Barack Obama, broadened his career focus during the pandemic to include motivational speaking.
—Hedy Phillips, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
Wallace’s 6-year-old All-Star challenge lingers like one of Murray’s motivational dares to a young teammate.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 22 Oct. 2025
Carpenter also starred in sketches throughout the evening as a 12-year-old boy podcast host, a girlboss motivational speaker who suffers a head injury, and a singing washing machine.
—Walden Green, Pitchfork, 19 Oct. 2025
Early in the segment, Carpenter’s character, Queen Lisha—who paired motivational speeches with upbeat choreography—suffered a concussion after her backup dancers threw her a touch too hard into a window.
—Paula Mejía, The Atlantic, 19 Oct. 2025
Guilt is one of our main motivational tools.
—Bill Hoogterp, Fortune, 19 Oct. 2025
Richard Propes is an activist, author, minister and motivational speaker.
—Heather Bushman, IndyStar, 10 Oct. 2025
There’s Andrea Labbée, a motivational speaker with a theater background; Gaile Holland, for decades a local ballet teacher whose former students include Winter; and Lisa Nalven, a veteran of notable modern dance companies, now a photographer impassioned by human diversity.
—Guillermo Perez, Miami Herald, 7 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for motivational
Adjective
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Players wore several different versions of tributes to their late teammates, including towels and helmet stickers with the players’ jersey numbers on them, while parents wore clothes with inspirational messages on them in memory of the three teenagers.—
Sean Neumann,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
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Poised, authentic and inspirational, Gauff is also a guiding light for young women.—
Katie Abel,
Footwear News,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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My role is to ensure bringing our ambitious vision to life, which is to be an international luxury brand builder, bridging cultures and inspiring dreams.—
Sofia Celeste,
Footwear News,
21 Oct. 2025
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From the red carpet to the runway, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s logos have turned into status symbols, inspiring designers, brands and fans around the world.—
Khanh T.L. Tran,
USA Today,
21 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Motivational.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/motivational. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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