In a sentence
Six example sentences with motive, each labelled with its topic.
Detective novels rarely satisfy unless the killer's motive feels inevitable once the last chapter rearranges everything you believed.
Literature
Prosecutors struggled to establish a motive, since the accountant gained nothing from the contract she allegedly altered.
Law
Historians still argue over Napoleon's motive for the Russian campaign, since the winter risk was obvious to everyone.
History
The researcher asked whether the motive behind the volunteers' generosity was kindness or a wish to be seen giving.
Psychology
Kant held that an act has moral worth only when duty, not pleasure or fear, is the motive that drives it.
Philosophy
Adam Smith argued that the profit motive, not kindness, brings bread to the baker's counter each morning.
Economics
Study motive until you keep it
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Found in these word lists
Found in 5 published word listsAuthoritative
Each source is a published word list that contains motive. No exam board publishes an official GRE, GMAT or SAT list; GMAT words come from GRE lists and the Academic Word List.