Word

motive, n.
(motives)
freq. cnt. 18

the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior
<noun.Tops> freq. cnt.: 35 freq. cnt.: 18 freq. cnt.: 12 freq. cnt.: 5

motivation motive need

sample sentences

"we did not understand his motivation"
"he acted with the best of motives"

lexical pointers

derivationally related form

motive motivate

lexical pointers

derivationally related form

motivational motivate

semantic pointers

hypernym

psychological feature

hyponym

life rational motive irrational motive impulse, urge morality, morals, ethical motive, ethics psychic energy, mental energy

a design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration
<noun.artifact> freq. cnt.: 5 freq. cnt.: 5

motif motive

semantic pointers

hypernym

pattern, design, figure

a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music
<noun.communication> freq. cnt.: 1 freq. cnt.: 1

motif motive

semantic pointers

hypernym

theme, melodic theme, musical theme, idea

hyponym

obbligato, obligato