motivate

verb

(transitive) To provide someone with an incentive to do something; to encourage; to actuate.

(transitive) To animate; to propel; to cause to take action.

Roots

Synonyms for motivate

incitev inspirev propelv encouragev actuatev promptv stimulatev impelv instigatev excitev arousev persuadev energizev provokev inducev goadn prodv galvanizev

Synonyms & related words for motivate

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of motivate — including incite, inspire, propel, encourage, actuate, prompt. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to motivate

Explore words related to motivate — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include motivator, demotivate, motivational, motivation, incentivize, incentive, enthuse, encourager. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for motivate

Common synonyms for motivate include incite, inspire, propel, encourage, actuate, prompt, stimulate, impel — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does motivate come from?

The word motivate breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root mot-, from Latin moveo (“move, mover”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.