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motive

An incentive to act in a particular way; a reason or emotion that makes one want to do something; anything that prompts a choice of action.

ˈməʊtɪvCurrent124 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026+ Add a definition
🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
3 definitions
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Seen in the wild
10 citations · last seen May 2026

Seen in the wild

Definitions

UK
#1·Apr 27, 2026UK

An incentive to act in a particular way; a reason or emotion that makes one want to do something; anything that prompts a choice of action.

What would his motive be for burning down the cottage?
Heard in the wild
  • “Incredible we did not think to do this in the first place, whether solarized or not. Profligate waste is engineered into our lives at every level, even against the unholy profit motive. Golf clap for humanity...🙄 youtu.be/Y8TKiRo-W4U?...”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “Inasmuch as there’s a profit motive associated with Republican capitalism, this reason stands dead even with it.”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “Spellcheck seems to have turned motif into motive. I suspect it saw the motif as the motive to spare the doorway from destruction.”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “CNN Indonesia Judge: Vengeance motive of 4 TNI attacker Andrie Yunus deserves to be questioned via CNN Indonesia (Translated)”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “Wealthy restaurateur accused of killing pregnant wife, kids as motive unclear https://www.newsbeep.com/523106/ NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A wealthy restaurateur and former pharmaceutical CEO fatally shot his…”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
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UK
#2·Apr 27, 2026UK

(obsolete, rare) A limb or other bodily organ that can move.

No-one could understand why she had hidden the shovel; her motives were obscure at best.
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UK
#3·Apr 27, 2026UK

(obsolete) An idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting.

Origin: From , from , , and their source, , neuter of motivus. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Heard in the wild
  • “Citizens United could be easily overturned. To the rightwing, warn about George Soros. To the leftwing, warn about the Paypal Mafia. Then make them wary of anyone who is trying to keep it in place thinking they have an ulterior motive. So easy.”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “Alice (almost 3) let herself outside alone for the first time this weekend. Unsupervised. Her motive? wanting to pet the rabbits in our backyard garden.”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “White house page war in iran motive- because Israel wanted it.”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “I don't doubt the person who did it didn't care. As I have repeatedly said, that's not what I'm talking about. We can only speculate on motive. I'm analysing the media's framing of the crime.”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “So those are the people whose main motive is simply to disrupt the status quo and they don’t really care how. God is that what British politics has come to.”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang

UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.

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