MOTIVE in a Sentence

Learn MOTIVE from example sentences; some of them are from classic books. These examples are selected from a corpus with 300,000 sentences, including classic works and current mainstream media. Some sentences also link to their contexts.
184 example sentences for MOTIVE, such as:
1. There is a complete absence of motive.
2. Her prime motive was personal ambition.
3. In the final analysis, profit is the motive.
4. What makes life dreary is the want of motive.
5. Sexual jealousy is a common motive for murder.
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Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
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 Meanings and Examples of MOTIVE
motive
 n.  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
 n.  a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music
Classic Sentence: (133 in 9 pages)
1  The German name of the victim, the absence of all other motive, and the sinister inscription on the wall, all pointed to its perpetration by political refugees and revolutionists.
A Study In Scarlet By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context  Highlight   In PART I: CHAPTER VI. TOBIAS GREGSON SHOWS WHAT HE CAN DO
2  All who can distinguish will understand your motive.
Mansfield Park By Jane Austen
Context  Highlight   In CHAPTER XV
3  That would only prove her affection not equal to sacrifices, which, in fact, I am scarcely justified in asking; and, if I am refused, that, I think, will be the honest motive.
Mansfield Park By Jane Austen
Context  Highlight   In CHAPTER XLIV
4  Sir Thomas would not hear of it; and Mrs. Norris's anger against Fanny was so much the greater, from considering her residence there as the motive.
Mansfield Park By Jane Austen
Context  Highlight   In CHAPTER XLVIII
5  This had been her motive in going to her cousin's.
Mansfield Park By Jane Austen
Context  Highlight   In CHAPTER XLVIII
6  That was his motive for drawing back, I can assure you.
Persuasion By Jane Austen
Context  Highlight   In Chapter 21
7  I have always wanted some other motive for his conduct than appeared.
Persuasion By Jane Austen
Context  Highlight   In Chapter 21
8  It could be seen in her face that whatever motive she might have had in asking the youth indoors would soon appear.
Return of the Native By Thomas Hardy
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 2: 4 Eustacia Is Led on to an Adventure
9  The fact only could be detected, her true motive never.
Return of the Native By Thomas Hardy
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 2: 4 Eustacia Is Led on to an Adventure
10  From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive for securing the situation.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context  Highlight   In II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE
11  The larger crimes are apt to be the simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is the motive.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context  Highlight   In III. A CASE OF IDENTITY
12  My motive for withholding it from the coroner's inquiry is that a man of science shrinks from placing himself in the public position of seeming to indorse a popular superstition.
The Hound of the Baskervilles By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context  Highlight   In Chapter 2. The Curse of the Baskervilles
13  I had the further motive that Baskerville Hall, as the paper says, would certainly remain untenanted if anything were done to increase its already rather grim reputation.
The Hound of the Baskervilles By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context  Highlight   In Chapter 2. The Curse of the Baskervilles
14  So far as the Barrymores go we have found the motive of their actions, and that has cleared up the situation very much.
The Hound of the Baskervilles By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context  Highlight   In Chapter 9. The Light upon the Moor [Second Report of Dr. ...
15  There is a complete absence of motive.
The Hound of the Baskervilles By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context  Highlight   In Chapter 13. Fixing the Nets
Example Sentence: (51 in 4 pages)
1  In the final analysis, profit is the motive.
2  We needn't assume that there was a sinister motive for what she did.
3  There seemed to be no clear motive for the attack.
4  What makes life dreary is the want of motive.
5  No motive for the killing has yet been established.
6  The police are still trying to establish a motive for the attack.
7  His motive for working so hard is that he needs money.
8  Her prime motive was personal ambition.
9  Sexual jealousy is a common motive for murder.
10  Even though John tried to dissemble his motive for taking modern dance, we all knew he was there not to dance but to meet girls.
11  I gathered enough of hope to suffice as a motive for wishing to get well.
12  Pat's main motive is to keep the racial divide alive.
13  The primary issue in prose is motive: You have to understand why the people do what they do.
14  She knew that he was inspired by base motives.
15  The violence was clearly prompted by political motives.