How to Use motivate in a Sentence

motivate

verb
  • No one knows what motivated him to act in such a violent way.
  • Pride can motivate a lot of teams.
    — David Troy Outkick, FOXNews.com, 27 June 2026
  • He was asked what motivates him.
    — Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Ask what motivates you to network in the first place.
    — Sarah Maokosy, Fortune, 4 Oct. 2025
  • This is part of what motivates him to keep buying back the block.
    — Raisa Habersham, Miami Herald, 16 Jan. 2026
  • What motivates you to get up in the morning?
    — Christopher Kaufman, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
  • Spry is motivated to lead his team to new heights.
    — Brendan Connelly, Boston Herald, 28 May 2026
  • Would they be motivated quite the same way this time around?
    — Tim Britton, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
  • With a view like that, we’d be motivated to run all the time, too!
    — Allison Degrushe, StyleCaster, 8 June 2026
  • Goals on a wall do not motivate anybody.
    — Louis Mosca, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026
  • That’s what motivates Mikash on the court.
    — Noah Poser, Chicago Tribune, 6 Feb. 2026
  • What motivates one person may block the next.
    — Jose Luis Gonzalez Rodriguez, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026
  • What is motivating her to help him?
    — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 24 Sep. 2025
  • The state has for months been trying to motivate the public to get shots.
    — oregonlive, 29 June 2021
  • Drummond has used her mission as a way to motivate the kids in their own lives.
    — Lilit Marcus, CNN, 29 May 2022
  • Preview our revenue goals for next year and motivate the team to hit them.
    — Kelly Daniel, Contributor, CNBC, 4 Feb. 2025
  • That was all the red corner could do to motivate their fighter.
    — Tyler R. Tynes, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2023
  • Use the full moon energy to motivate you to achieve those goals.
    — Jacqueline Tempera, Women's Health, 30 June 2023
  • Many survivors say hope for the future is the one thing that motivates them.
    — Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 7 Jan. 2026
  • That treatment was supposed to motivate them to get off their duffs and find a job.
    — Steve Chapman, chicagotribune.com, 13 Oct. 2021
  • The Leo moon motivates you to take care of routine tasks with ease.
    — Usa Today, USA Today, 27 Mar. 2026
  • My faith teaches me to feed the hungry and motivates me to help those who are in need.
    — ABC News, 23 Feb. 2026
  • This is the time for new thinking about your team and how to motivate and retain them.
    — Rhonda Abrams, USA TODAY, 26 Jan. 2022
  • Push yourself to be great — wake up and motivate yourself your own way.
    — A.d. Amorosi, Variety, 10 Apr. 2022
  • He should be motivated to play at a high level.
    — Joseph Hoyt, Dallas Morning News, 7 Apr. 2026
  • Sharing your ideas will motivate others to pitch in and help.
    — Eugenia Last, The Mercury News, 23 Feb. 2024
  • Valle was motivated in part by his love of cycling.
    — Molly McCrea, CBS News, 30 Mar. 2026
  • This will motivate the team to learn fast and launch with confidence.
    — Ashay Satav, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2025
  • My love for love and support from the people around me [motivates me].
    — Laura Sirikul, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Williams couldn’t motivate his guys in what should have been the biggest game of the season.
    — Greg Moore, The Arizona Republic, 11 May 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'motivate.' 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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