- motive
- nounADJECTIVE▪ hidden, ulterior▪ good, strong▪
I'd say he had a very strong motive for wanting her dead.
▪ altruistic, high, noble, pure▪He was acting from the noblest of motives when he offered her money.
▪ base (formal), selfish▪ evil, sinister▪ questionable▪ main, primary, prime▪ real, true▪ clear, obvious▪There seemed to be no clear motive for the attack.
▪ underlying▪She was not sure what his underlying motives were.
▪ mixed▪We give aid to other countries with mixed motives.
▪ human▪ personal▪ economic, financial, political, racial (esp. BrE), religious▪ profitVERB + MOTIVE▪ be inspired by (esp. BrE), have▪She knew that he was inspired by base motives.
▪ establish, find, find out, suggest▪The police are still trying to establish a motive for the attack.
▪ provide▪There must be something which provided a motive for these killings.
▪ be suspicious of, examine, impugn (formal), question, suspect▪He was suspicious of her motives in inviting him into the house.
▪She should examine her motives for marrying him.
▪ hide▪We've become adept at hiding our true motives.
▪ explain▪However you explain the motives behind his actions, he was still wrong.
▪ reveal▪ know, see, understand▪Everyone can see your true motives.
MOTIVE + VERB▪ drive sb/sth▪speculation that less noble motives were driving the country's foreign policy
PREPOSITION▪ motive in▪What was their motive in setting fire to the building?
▪ motive behind▪There is no doubt about the motive behind it all.
▪ motive for▪There may be a hidden motive for his departure.
▪ motive of▪It it is clear that they were acting from motives of revenge.
PHRASES▪ a variety of motives▪I did it for a variety of motives.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
