Collocation Dictionary
Common collocations with motive in American Collocation
motive
noun
countable
What are red words?
Around 90% of spoken and written English relies on just 7,500 common words.
These words are highlighted in red and are ranked using a star system.
- One-star words are commonly used
- Two-star words are even more common
- Three-star words are the most frequently used
What are red words?
Around 90% of spoken and written English relies on just 7,500 common words.These words are highlighted in red and are ranked using a star system.
- One-star words are commonly used
- Two-star words are even more common
- Three-star words are the most frequently used
not obvious
Greed and revenge are her underlying motives.
thinking about other people/about yourself
Apart from the altruistic motive of sharing your knowledge and ideas with others, there is much to be gained from publishing.
giving an advantage
It soon emerges that he has an ulterior motive.
bad/good
I know it was done for the best of motives.
It now seems evident that there was some much more sinister motive behind the timing of this announcement.
main
Persistent questioning led to a confession that the primary motive for the move was economic.
real
The police doubt whether car theft was the real motive for the murder.
types of motive
The campaign was inspired by purely political motives.
It appears that the profit motive was put before miners’ lives.
have a motive
It transpires that Mary had her own motives for bringing Jane along to the meeting.
look at or have doubts about someone’s motive
I question the motives of those who wish to restrict particular areas of work to particular groups.
find out someone’s motive
No motive for the crime was clearly established.
understand or explain someone’s motive
Although the audience cannot condone what he has done, they must understand his motives.
say that someone has a motive
You must stop attributing sinister motives to those around you.