dynamic
toggle menu
menu
vocabulary
1000+ books

motivation
in a sentence

show 186 more with this conextual meaning
  • I think that's a big part of the motivation. We love the plays, the great characters, the fabulous speeches, the witty repartee even in times of duress.   (source)
    motivation = reason for doing something
  • Nobody, except for the macrame teacher, Pat, ever talked to me, so I had no motivation to risk humiliation in exchange for hygiene.†   (source)
  • Both the political instructor and I have spoken to you many times concerning your tendency to sequester yourself from the people, and your lack of self-motivation in seeking progress.†   (source)
  • I realize that for some of them, their motivation is lust.†   (source)
  • The bus was packed with a motley group of men and women who represented the spectrum of ages, neighborhoods, backstories, and motivations.†   (source)
  • Those hens need some motivation to start laying more!†   (source)
  • More motivation to stay alive.†   (source)
  • But his father never did anything without a reason—and from the few words he'd exchanged with Nehemia, he couldn't help but wonder if she had her own motivations in coming here, too.†   (source)
  • Please tell me you don't text these to yourself for daily motivation.†   (source)
  • I don't understand her motivations, and when I don't understand something, Reynard, it is natural that I don't trust it.†   (source)
  • Surely his motivations are more delicate than that.†   (source)
  • I learned the secret of internal motivation.†   (source)
  • Mr. Neck has a steroid rage, screaming about Motivation and Identity and sacred School Spirit.†   (source)
  • Everyone was, at a minimal estimate, "a good egg" or "a decent sort," and motivation was never judged to be at variance with outward show.†   (source)
  • The workers who knew him well were unsurprised, while the newer ones would often be startled, thinking his behavior a bizarre sort of motivational method.†   (source)
  • We hope you share this book with others, use it as a tool for inspiration and motivation, and make all your dreams come true.†   (source)
  • Whatever his motivation, my father accepted the job on the spot.†   (source)
  • There is something beautiful in the subtlety of that exchange, in the attention that each party must pay to the motivations and desires of the other.†   (source)
  • Needing no other motivation than that, Henri and I each take a hand.†   (source)
  • Jaspia meant hunger and Fuentes often yelled it at us from the corner to remind us of our motivation.†   (source)
  • You have judged the actions and even the motivations of others, as if you somehow knew what those were in truth.†   (source)
  • But this tape is not about your motivation, Alex.†   (source)
  • My primary motivation behind buying a car, despite the scarcity of my funds, was that I refused to be driven around town in a car with red and blue lights on top.†   (source)
  • Given Jai's reticence, I knew I had to look honestly at my motivations.†   (source)
  • Jen Shinnan's motivation was obvious, but how could the Lord of the Radch possibly profit by it?†   (source)
  • Her pies were always bestsellers, which drove Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Snow crazy—Amma's primary motivation for all that baking in the first place.†   (source)
  • Part of his motivation was money, but the greater motivation seemed to be a better future for his family.†   (source)
  • And his impatient laughter, which had always made her feel so awkward — as if she were eight and he was able to see her motivations more clearly than she.†   (source)
  • I HAD ALL SORTS OF MOTIVATION TO KEEP ME GOING.†   (source)
  • When he showed up, he was more interested in giving motivational PowerPoint presentations than fighting.†   (source)
  • A faint stab at a motivational speech.†   (source)
  • This, of course, usually made me lose any motivation I had for cheerleading.†   (source)
  • I completed the exercises with obvious motivation, not because I was trying to make a favorable impression but because I would do nearly anything to avoid running into the freezing ocean and then rolling in the sand.†   (source)
  • She won't work with someone that she thinks lacks integrity or the proper motivation to do what's right.†   (source)
  • When I throw on top of that the necessity of continuing laboratory research, writing papers, preparing lectures, remaining involved in academic projects, and more recently, presenting motivational talks to young people, there weren't enough hours in any day or week.†   (source)
  • I just cannot find the motivation I need.†   (source)
  • Did they really think they understood my character and motivations based on two sentences?†   (source)
  • I don't have the motivation or the energy to do it.†   (source)
  • He was loath to acknowledge it, but he knew that such creatures were beyond his ability to kill, no matter the strength of his motivation.†   (source)
  • And it left a lot of reasons for all of us to move into the next off-season with a brand-new motivation to be the best that we could possibly be.†   (source)
  • That is to say: there will be certain types of motivation that are similar despite differing schools or opposed aims.†   (source)
  • He wanted to know what inspired her, what the difference was between her hopes and her goals, her beliefs and her motivations.†   (source)
  • Now that YOU are home, alive and well, you have judged the judgments of others, analyzed their intentions, behaviors, personalities and motivations.†   (source)
  • But he did not have the smallest glimpse into Norah's heart, her desires or motivations.†   (source)
  • It wasn't so much that I didn't trust Clancy's motivations; he just unnerved me.†   (source)
  • But by and large, I believe these generalizations to be accurate, and indeed, such 'idealistic' motivations as I have described have played a large part in my own career.†   (source)
  • Take away someone's aggression and you take away their motivation, or their ability to assert themselves.†   (source)
  • A former advertising executive with a boyish face and the earnest delivery style of a motivational speaker, Novak charmed the crowd.†   (source)
  • This superb performance demonstrates your self-motivation and sets an outstanding example for your peers.†   (source)
  • Indeed, while the main motivation for joining this global movement is to help others, the result is often to help oneself.†   (source)
  • Whatever her motivation, Blaze was lying and more than willing to ruin Ronnie's life.†   (source)
  • Shelley might not even understand her own motivations for doing things.†   (source)
  • I didn't trust Hema's motivation: guilt leads to righteous action, but rarely is it the right action.†   (source)
  • But he didn't have my motivation.†   (source)
  • A desire to inherit this estate was ostensibly the motivation behind Lowell Lee's plot to destroy his family.†   (source)
  • The first and most obvious was my daily entry section, which I filled with a wild stream of thoughts in a conscious effort to capture my honest feelings, true motivations, and crazed activities of each day.†   (source)
  • The facts, anyway; no one can say about the actual motivations.†   (source)
  • One weapon, and with every passing year in this hip, motivationally researched society, more and more people are discovering how to render that weapon useless and conquer those who have hitherto been the conquerors—†   (source)
  • Dig it, he's deep, he's misunderstood, he's got the accent down pat, the shaved head, he does the screaming fits, he does the motivation—lonely boy from the coal pits ruthlessly fights his way to the top but all he's really looking for is a wisecracking dame who'll give him some back talk and make him laugh once in a while.†   (source)
  • One of his sisters became a commercial artist, another the manager of community relations for a hospital's mental health programs, the third a motivational speaker.†   (source)
  • But that is only the case for crimes with a direct financial motivation—burglary, robbery, and auto theft—as opposed to violent crimes like homicide, assault, and rape.†   (source)
  • Anyway, careers take more self-motivation and drive, but "one" can usually get higher and progress faster.†   (source)
  • His motivation was both simple and complex; he wanted to help two innocent victims of the Iranian revolution.†   (source)
  • Pain is underrated as a tool of motivation.†   (source)
  • The day would include a panel discussion on "Emerging Jobs in the Workforce & How to Land One," mock job interviews, and Mary Wilson, the legendary Motown singer from the Supremes, was going to deliver a motivational speech.†   (source)
  • Simeon, sorry as he was, would lose all motivation to bring home anything.†   (source)
  • The Mississippi grand jury's decision not to press charges against Walker was Oswald's motivation for purchasing a rifle.†   (source)
  • Nabby, appraising the politicians she encountered in New York, including Governor George Clinton, surmised there were few for whom personal aggrandizement was not the guiding motivation.†   (source)
  • My mother was a motivational speaker.†   (source)
  • If Bert's appeal was not convincing enough, the shadows that appeared on the opposite street corner pushed the companions' motivation to the fore.†   (source)
  • But our motivations were different.†   (source)
  • At least we have motivation.†   (source)
  • Whatever the motivation, Rene was not about to challenge the baleful veteran.†   (source)
  • You never needed a tutor, just motivation.†   (source)
  • His forearm was lashed with rope burns from the rescue, and he knew he should tear off the clotted gauze bandages and drain pus from the wounds that refused to heal at this altitude, but he couldn't quite locate the motivation.†   (source)
  • I don't know his motivations, his desires.†   (source)
  • Whatever the psychological motivation, the craze has shoveled a lot of urban black street talk into Mainstream American.†   (source)
  • I wondered how we could have possibly missed something as obvious as hot air balloons, until we crested a hill and I saw them—not the big, colorful teardrop-shaped things you see in wall calendars and motivational posters ("The sky's the limit!"†   (source)
  • It made the kids at camp much more enthusiastic and cooperative when they had ego goals to fulfill, I'm sure, but ultimately that kind of motivation is destructive.†   (source)
  • That expertise is for sale, neither politics nor personal motivation any concern to him whatsoever.†   (source)
  • He is an individual of strong motivation, will, and perseverance, qualities not often seen in members of his race.†   (source)
  • He'd argued with her over motivation and sentence structure, losing as often as winning.†   (source)
  • In his letter, Howard pointed to what he thought was the motivation behind the attack on his integrity: the rivalry with War Admiral.†   (source)
  • Will my grandmother really, truly appear on our doorstep, hugging malevolence, money her only motivation?†   (source)
  • The text of the proposition summarized the motivation succinctly: "This state finds that illegal immigration is causing economic hardship to this state and that illegal immigration is encouraged by public agencies within this state that provide public benefits without verifying immigration status."†   (source)
  • Yet leaving without the relic, putting off the quest that had been its primary motivation for centuries, was not an acceptable option.†   (source)
  • — and must correctly describe the hierarchy of survival, note the motivations at each level, and resolve all conflicts.†   (source)
  • It would feel too much like I was being psychoanalyzed, letting them tear me open and pick apart every action and choice and motivation, so they can feel superior and sane.†   (source)
  • Any motivation to sell out to an enemy?†   (source)
  • And one time, in the bunch of us, there was this boy who was fifteen, and he had killed his mother with a shotgun some years before—accidentally, completely accidentally, without even an unconscious motivation, I have no doubt, no doubt at all—and this one evening this boy went with us, and we ordered our drinks, and when it came his turn he said, I'll have bergin ....give me some bergin, please ....bergin and water.†   (source)
  • This was also my motivation to start being good at business, so I could provide enough money for all these younguns.†   (source)
  • I didn't want to get into talking about my motivations, and I didn't want to tell him I was getting out.†   (source)
  • Misty, regardless of her motivation, if there was one aside from bitterness and the need to attract attention, had given me enough time to breathe steadily, time for my face to be less warm, my knees less rubbery before standing.†   (source)
  • And much of the opposition will spring from blameless, if not valid, motivations.†   (source)
  • They see my motivations as being theirs.†   (source)
  • Military analysts who have studied the will of armies to fight confirm this southern conviction: defense of the homeland is one of the most powerful combat motivations.†   (source)
  • But the one thing Pig did not require was motivation.†   (source)
  • We must learn more about people, about the development of communities, architecture, engineering, education, motivation, productivity, public health and medicine, arts and sciences, political, legal, and social organization.†   (source)
  • But this "profound selfishness," which Emerson was so certain the speech represented, could not have entered into Daniel Webster's motivations.†   (source)
  • My father could scarcely disagree but during the four or five years of our relatively close association he never trusted her and was always trying to surprise in her open, Midwestern face the genuine, cunningly hidden, and hideous motivation.†   (source)
  • Sophie nodded, although she felt a second motivation still burning within her.   (source)
  • Ah, yes, then food would probably be good motivation to stay.   (source)
    motivation = incentive (something to encourage an action)
  • And his motivation for doing this, like his name, is something he prefers to keep to himself.   (source)
    motivation = reason
  • It's not hard to follow the Gamemakers' motivation.   (source)
    motivation = reason for doing something
  • The part about me calling you names or fighting with my mom or saying food was my motivation?   (source)
  • And then the sweet smell of fresh air pulsed through me, giving me all the motivation I needed.   (source)
    motivation = incentive (something to encourage an action)
  • "A speculation," Teabing said, "but it would certainly provide the Church motivation for an all-out attack to find the documents before it was too late."   (source)
    motivation = reason
  • "I admit," Teabing said, "the assertions are dire, but you must understand the Church's powerful motivations to conduct such a cover-up."   (source)
    motivations = reasons
  • What was their motivation for invading?   (source)
    motivation = reason
  • I could just imagine the motivations behind such exceptions.†   (source)
  • Then I did my usual motivational speech in the mirror: "You are gorgeous and people love you!"†   (source)
  • Even with Johanna's motivational insults driving me on, I have to drop out after a mile.†   (source)
  • Alpert's motivation is to educate and to help.†   (source)
  • A motivational lecturer from RejoovTV, some fatuous drone in a suit.†   (source)
  • I still couldn't understand his motivation.†   (source)
  • Normal therapy is based on people's ability to have insight into their own motivations.†   (source)
  • At first I wanted nothing more than to be like others, but that motivation grew.†   (source)
  • Nor did she trust the girl's motivation.†   (source)
  • It occurs without motivation or desire or knowledge of what may result.†   (source)
  • Now, motivational patterns are going to be similar among all espionage agents.†   (source)
  • Part of it is endurance, part of it is motivation.†   (source)
  • Don't buckle under to the hurt, rev up your spirit and your motivation, attack the courses.†   (source)
  • The more we talked about my family and my motivation, the more excited she got about the idea.†   (source)
  • It shouldn't be that complicated to figure out his motivations.†   (source)
  • And some of it claiming to even know my mind-set and motivation.†   (source)
  • I couldn't argue, with the eyes or the motivation, and it was a moot point anyway.†   (source)
  • How could she think I lacked motivation with her shocking Edward right here in front of me?†   (source)
  • And I appreciate you being honest about your motivations.†   (source)
  • The stand-downs bothered me, but not to the point of weakening my motivation to jock up again.†   (source)
  • It allowed him to try to see all of their sides and understand their motivations more clearly.†   (source)
  • I just figured I needed to try harder, but I find it difficult to sustain that motivation.†   (source)
  • Boredom in teenage boys is a powerful motivation to create chaos.†   (source)
  • What better motivation to perform well, eh?†   (source)
  • We can only deduce, also, the motivations for "Nick's" engineering of her escape.†   (source)
  • Irina waited nervously for him to continue, and then repeated, "My motivations?"†   (source)
  • I moved quickly before my motivation slipped away.†   (source)
  • To keep that from happening, we'd either have to fake that motivation or muster it up somehow.†   (source)
  • This practice of inferring the motivations and intentions of others is classic thin-slicing.†   (source)
  • The book is full of great motivational quotes, like "The Man in the Glass."†   (source)
  • Roland shrugged unwillingly, all at once not content with this probing of his motivations.†   (source)
  • "You know," I said, "you should be a motivational speaker, or something."†   (source)
  • Despite the compliment, I liked Odin better as a taciturn half-troll than as a motivational speaker.†   (source)
  • Motivation was telling, even when such small things as fingernails were concerned.†   (source)
  • They were all rigidly courteous, but their courtesy concealed various motivations.†   (source)
  • The thought of being that warm was the motivation I needed to get me out of bed.†   (source)
  • The man chuckled, as if the two of them were considering the motivations of God himself.†   (source)
  • Dwight's motivations were transparent, but Phil Grant was a different animal.†   (source)
  • Ellen provided strong motivation for the continuance of my silent quest to escape from Iran.†   (source)
  • I know I'll never be one of those motivational speakers you see on TV, and I don't want to be.†   (source)
  • In fact, that was part of the motivation of this new invitation.†   (source)
  • The number-one motivation on Iwo Jima was to stand with your buddies and not let them down.†   (source)
  • And the truth is always in the motivation.†   (source)
  • His sense of humor mystified me as much as his motivations did.†   (source)
  • The Soviet ruler rambles on, questioning Kennedy's motivations.†   (source)
  • It could do either, Nass said, depending on the motivation and the incentives.†   (source)
  • In this case, they wanted to learn about the motivation behind blood donations.†   (source)
  • He had been unable to articulate his motivation as clearly as the dragon, but that was exactly it.†   (source)
  • I didn't want to admit the strongest motivation.†   (source)
  • Whatever their motivation, the stewards buried him.†   (source)
  • He had the intellectual motivation but that wasn't enough either.†   (source)
  • The killer was new to VICAP, and his profile presented an entirely new case study in motivation.†   (source)
  • His major motivation, I feel certain, was to wrap it up and get to lunch.†   (source)
  • His reluctance gave me the motivation to make sure it was successful.†   (source)
  • But obviously that wasn't Edith's motivation, since she worked for the Bureau.†   (source)
  • In Iraq and Afghanistan the motivation had been easy.†   (source)
  • And his falling out with Celine and Bethany provided the motivation for this most recent assault.†   (source)
  • Whatever happened to you giving those motivational-responsibility programs you gave before?†   (source)
  • I've been a cop long enough to know that anybody can be violent if given the right motivation.†   (source)
  • But I felt his lips press silently against my forehead, and I didn't care what the motivation was.†   (source)
  • The motivation for riding through such pain soon became all too clear.†   (source)
  • Perhaps the currents of thought and motivation run deeper than we sometimes think.†   (source)
  • Motivation, as any psychiatrist will tell us, is always difficult to assess.†   (source)
  • The meaning of courage, like political motivations, is frequently misunderstood.†   (source)
  • Glick and Macri, at the camerlegno's suggestion, had nobly agreed to provide light to the quest, although considering what accolades awaited them if they got out of here alive, their motivations were certainly suspect.†   (source)
  • But Kate insisted that I needed better motivation—by which she meant my hatred of watching Edward's pain.†   (source)
  • While his motivation remained a mystery, Langdon had glimpsed a telltale shimmer of gold on the man's hand—a Masonic ring—the double-headed phoenix and the number 33.†   (source)
  • Tomkins believed that faces—even the faces of horses—held valuable clues to inner emotions and motivations.†   (source)
  • I counted maybe a dozen lists like this, along with hundreds of motivational statements like: NEVER FORGET YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.†   (source)
  • It is your way of giving thanks for the successes—to offer inspiration and motivation to those who follow you or look up to you.†   (source)
  • No, it had never been a conscious part of his motivation—he had done what he could in the drowned city because he was there, it needed to be done, and he could do it.†   (source)
  • I lost all motivation.†   (source)
  • Every year, thousands of men underwent surgical gelding—orchiectomy, as the process was known—their motivations ranging from transgender issues, to curbing sexual addictions, to deep-seated spiritual beliefs.†   (source)
  • And the motivation.†   (source)
  • As a bonus"—Helgi leaned forward and lowered his voice—"the ravens don't show motivational PowerPoints."†   (source)
  • I meant to speak of your motivations.†   (source)
  • You just ask them which tastes better, and by that indirect method you get a picture of what their true motivations are.†   (source)
▲ show less (of above)