motive
- nounADJECTIVE▪ hidden, ulterior▪ good, strong▪
I'd say he had a very strong motive for wanting her dead.
▪ altruistic, high, noble, pure▪He was acting from the noblest of motives when he offered her money.
▪ base (formal), selfish▪ evil, sinister▪ questionable▪ main, primary, prime▪ real, true▪ clear, obvious▪There seemed to be no clear motive for the attack.
▪ underlying▪She was not sure what his underlying motives were.
▪ mixed▪We give aid to other countries with mixed motives.
▪ human▪ personal▪ economic, financial, political, racial (esp. BrE), religious▪ profitVERB + MOTIVE▪ be inspired by (esp. BrE), have▪She knew that he was inspired by base motives.
▪ establish, find, find out, suggest▪The police are still trying to establish a motive for the attack.
▪ provide▪There must be something which provided a motive for these killings.
▪ be suspicious of, examine, impugn (formal), question, suspect▪He was suspicious of her motives in inviting him into the house.
▪She should examine her motives for marrying him.
▪ hide▪We've become adept at hiding our true motives.
▪ explain▪However you explain the motives behind his actions, he was still wrong.
▪ reveal▪ know, see, understand▪Everyone can see your true motives.
MOTIVE + VERB▪ drive sb/sth▪speculation that less noble motives were driving the country's foreign policy
PREPOSITION▪ motive in▪What was their motive in setting fire to the building?
▪ motive behind▪There is no doubt about the motive behind it all.
▪ motive for▪There may be a hidden motive for his departure.
▪ motive of▪It it is clear that they were acting from motives of revenge.
PHRASES▪ a variety of motives▪I did it for a variety of motives.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
Look at other dictionaries:
motive — mo·tive n [Anglo French motif, from Middle French motif adjective, moving, from Medieval Latin motivus, from Latin motus, past participle of movēre to move]: something (as a need or desire) that causes a person to act ◇ In criminal law, motive is … Law dictionary
motivé — motivé, ée adj. Soutenu, stimulé par une motivation. ⇒MOTIVÉ, ÉE, part. passé et adj. I. Part. passé de motiver (v. ce mot I B). Suscité. Il y a bien des actes, de vilains actes motivés par de l argent (GONCOURT, Journal, 1895, p.740). II.… … Encyclopédie Universelle
motive# — motive n 1 Motive, spring, impulse, incentive, inducement, spur, goad all denote a stimulus inciting or prompting a person to act or behave in a definite way. Motive applies chiefly to such an emotion as fear, anger, hatred, or love or to a… … New Dictionary of Synonyms
Motive — may refer to: Contents 1 Criminal law 2 Creative or artistic work 3 Computing … Wikipedia
Motive — Mo tive, n. [F. motif, LL. motivum, from motivus moving, fr. L. movere, motum, to move. See {Move}.] 1. That which moves; a mover. [Obs.] Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. That which incites to action; anything prompting or exciting to choise, or moving… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Motive — Mo tive, a. Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move; as, a motive argument; motive power. Motive faculty. Bp. Wilkins. [1913 Webster] {Motive power} (Mach.), a natural agent, as water, steam, wind, electricity, etc., used to… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Motive-e-s — Motivé e s Motivé e s est un mouvement politique français de gauche créé à Toulouse, à l initiative notamment de membres du groupe de musique Zebda. Réalisant un score de 12,49 % aux élections municipales de mars 2001 à Toulouse après une… … Wikipédia en Français
Motivé-e-s — est un mouvement politique français de gauche créé à Toulouse, à l initiative notamment de membres du groupe de musique Zebda. Réalisant un score de 12,49 % aux élections municipales de mars 2001 à Toulouse après une campagne médiatisée et… … Wikipédia en Français
motive — [mōt′iv] n. [ME motif < OFr motif (adj.) < ML motivus, moving < L motus, pp. of movere, to MOVE] 1. some inner drive, impulse, intention, etc. that causes a person to do something or act in a certain way; incentive; goal 2. MOTIF (sense… … English World dictionary
Motive — Mo tive, v. t. To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
motive — motive, motivation See interpretation ; psychoanalysis ; sanction, social sanction ; vocabularies of motive … Dictionary of sociology
