noun · neutral
motive
UK/ˈməʊtɪv/US/ˈmoʊtɪv/MO·tive
Band 6-7speakingtask2
the reason why someone does something, especially a crime
Examples
“Police are still trying to establish the motive for the attack.”
“Lack of money was the motive behind the fraud.”
“Detectives asked about any possible motive the suspect might have.”
Band 8 sentence
“Although motive is often hard to prove, investigators suspected financial gain was behind the scheme.”
Collocations
- motive for
- establish a motive
- lack of motive
Word family
motivate verbmotivation noun
Common mistakes
They are looking for the reason of the crime.→They are looking for the motive for the crime.
What is his motive to do that?→What is his motive for doing that?
Say it for a higher band
5reason→6cause→7+motive
Synonyms
reason
Easily confused
reason
“The reason he left the company was because of low pay.”
Related words
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In Crime & Law
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