motive
motive Lexical Profile
motive Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A reason, desire, or psychological need that causes a person to act in a particular way.
"The detectives struggled to establish a clear motive for the sudden disappearance of the financial records."
A distinctive, recurring melodic or rhythmic fragment, figure, or thematic element in a musical or artistic composition.
"Beethoven built the entire first movement of his Fifth Symphony around a famous four-note rhythmic motive."
• adjective
Producing physical or mechanical motion, or acting as a driving force behind an action.
"Steam provided the primary motive power for nineteenth-century locomotives and factory machinery."
Word Nuance & Usage
In art and literary criticism, 'motive' is sometimes used interchangeably with 'motif', though modern usage strongly prefers 'motif' for a recurring thematic or decorative element and reserves 'motive' for the underlying psychological reason behind an action.
• Rhymes for motive
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in Middle English from Old French motif, from Medieval Latin motivus ('moving, impelling'), derived from the Latin verb movere ('to move').