Mismotivate

verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To motivate toward the wrong goal.

    "We who are supposed to direct the skill learning of students bear a heavy responsibility here. We should motivate — not mis'''motivate; direct — not misdirect."

Example

More examples

"We who are supposed to direct the skill learning of students bear a heavy responsibility here. We should motivate — not mis'''motivate; direct — not misdirect."

Etymology

From mis- + motivate.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.