motiveless

Examples

• All

• War is deliberately used to attain political objectives, and all violence is an expression of some purpose; there is no such thing as apolitical or motiveless violence.

  Academic text (2000)

• It is sad to reflect how much motiveless insipidity there is among us that is steadily resolving itself into ethical rot, for no other reason than that it has never been awakened into vigor and electrified into effect by the touch of a supreme purpose.

  Blog text (16)

• A detective's dream... the motiveless murder.

  Raising Cain (1992)

• Finally, they might be more likely to be victims of motiveless killings because of their appearance.

  Academic text (2001)

• And fittingly, the speaker's voice is also associated with the motiveless vagaries of the breeze.

  Academic text (2017)

• "We thought this," they later said, "a theatrical way of highlighting Tom's motiveless motives."

  Academic text (1996)

• "Most evildoers aren't in it for the money—motiveless malignancy explains most of their actions."

  Blog text (22)

• Far from being an unemotional man who simply plots in keeping with Coleridge's notion of "motiveless malignancy," Iago presents himself as a man in rambling hate with the world.

  Academic text (2005)

• Building on the notion of indiscriminate or "motiveless terror" of the early 1900s, the Bolsheviks launched their campaign of state-sponsored coercion against groups and individuals designated as "class enemies" of the proletarian dictatorship.

  Blog text (6)

• The detective struggled to find any leads in the case of the motiveless murder.

Synonyms

U

unprovoked

vsmotiveless

23 6.5

Happening for no clear reason

is used for both actions and feelings lacking an apparent motive

W

wanton

vsmotiveless

• Formal

12 8.2

Done without reason and without concern for others

suggests lack of an apparent motive without implying reckless intent

P

purposeless

vsmotiveless

4 5.3

Not done for any clear reason or useful result

focuses on lacking an apparent motive rather than lacking useful purpose

C

causeless

vsmotiveless

1 8.2

Happening for no clear reason

applies specifically to acts or feelings lacking an apparent motive

Antonyms

M

motivated

2.5

Wanting to work hard to reach a goal

How Motivated

driven

3.5

motivated

2.5

unmotivated

8 4.4

aimless

13 3.6

motiveless

1 8.3

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology