Skip to main content
PlainSpell

motive

/ˈmoʊtɪv/noun, verb, adjective

motive is spelled M-O-T-I-V-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 8.7 times per million words in written English, the 7,797th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “motif vs motive” about 170 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, motive means “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” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of motive is motives.

How many letters and syllables are in motive?

Letters6: M-O-T-I-V-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing8.7 times per million words; the 7,797th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is motive?

Motive appears 8.7 times per million words in written English, the 7,797th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce motive?

  • UK /ˈməʊtɪv/
  • US /ˈmoʊtɪv/

Motive has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-motive.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with motive

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

motif vs motive170 G

Also written: motif.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with motive?

4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as motive from its last stressed vowel (/oʊtɪv/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of motive

  • motives plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • motiving participle, present
  • motived participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does motive mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    obsoleteAn idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting.

  2. 2

    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.

  3. 3

    Something which causes someone to want to commit a crime; a reason for criminal behaviour.

    What would his motive be for burning down the cottage?

  4. 4

    obsoleterareA limb or other bodily organ that can move.

  5. 5

    Alternative form of motif.

    If you listen carefully, you can hear the flutes mimicking the cello motive.

  6. 6

    UKA party, gathering, or get-together.

  7. 7

    UKOne's plans for the day or night.

    What's the motive for tonight, lads?

verb

  1. 1

    To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.

adjective

  1. 1

    Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move

    a motive argument

  2. 2

    Relating to motion and/or to its cause

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate motive?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of motive: MOM.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Motive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmotif, mobile (a cause to commit a crime), thème (music: theme or subject), motiver (to prompt or incite), moteur (causing motion), mouvant (Relating to motion and/or to its cause)
GermanMotiv, Beweggrund (a cause to commit a crime)
Portuguesemotivo (a cause to commit a crime)
Spanishmotivo, motivante (a cause to commit a crime)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does motive come from?

From Middle English motif, from Anglo-Norman motif, Middle French motif, and their source, Late Latin motivum (“motive, moving cause”), neuter of motivus.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after motive