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Glite Dictionary
💡 A reason 🎵 A short theme ⚡ Causing movement 🎨 A repeated design
motive

motive

1 7.5
A repeated design used to decorate walls or fabric
  • noun
  • /ˈmoʊtɪv/
  • Specialized
translation icon : motivo
  • "Right now our people like the painting as the motive, though." "It adds romance," Walter said.

Examples

  • Choose a motive for the bathroom.

    Blog text (11)

  • Though boys also reported that searching for information was their main motivation for going online, socializing and boredom avoidance tied as their second-ranked motive.

    Academic text (2008)

  • We have a sea motive that we want to put up here.

  • What is your favorite motive in in flora?

  • Only then do the Kurtners tell us that devices have been invented that read the impressions light waves make on the walls around them, allowing the tracing of motives.

    Academic text (2011)

  • The aesthetic motive is very feeble in a lot of writers, but even a pamphleteer or writer of textbooks will have pet words and phrases that appeal to him for non-utilitarian reasons, or he may feel strongly about typography, width of margins, etc.

    Blog text (3)

  • The artist used a floral motive to enhance the beauty of the building's entrance.

  • In the craft store, I found a fabric with a lovely geometric motive that would be perfect for my quilt.

  • The wallpaper features a beautiful repeating motive that adds charm to the room.

Synonyms

design
vsmotive
422 3.3

A pattern or picture used to decorate a surface

refers more narrowly to repeating shapes or colors rather than any ornament
pattern
vsmotive
192 2.8

A repeated design like shapes or flowers on cloth

emphasizes repeating shapes or colors rather than general arrangements
motif
vsmotive
17 5.3

A repeated decorative design used on clothes, walls or buildings

is more about repeating shapes or colors in applied arts

Compounds

motive power
  • Specialized
1 5.5

Energy that makes a machine like a car or train move

rational motive
1 5.6

A reason for doing something that someone can explain with clear thinking

ethical motive
6.5

A reason for doing something because you think it is right

irrational motive
7.7

A reason for doing something that is not logical or sensible

How Complex

pattern
192 2.8
motive
  • Specialized
1 7.5
decoration
39 1.0
element
∞ 3.0

Surface Forms

motive singular
motives plural

Etymology

Motive (like the word motif) comes from Latin movere 'to move', and a repeated design is called a motive because the pattern helps the eye move across a surface. So a motive in art is a short visual idea that gives rhythm and flow.