Meanings
verbdemotivate (third-person singular simple present demotivates, present participle demotivating, simple past and past participle demotivated)
present singular third person demotivates · participle present demotivating · participle past demotivated · past demotivated
- transitiveTo decrease the motivation of a person or a group.
Synonyms & antonyms
Opposite
Also see
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*de
- Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
- Proto-Italic*dē
- Latindē
- Latindē-
- Englishde-
- Anglo-Normanmotif
- Middle Frenchmotif
- Proto-Indo-European*m(y)ewh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*m(y)owh₁éyeti
- Proto-Italic*moweō
- Latinmoveō
- Latinmōtus
- Late Latinmōtīvum
- Middle Englishmotif
- Englishmotive
- Englishmotivate
- Englishdemotivate
Translations
Czech demotivovat
- demotivovatto decrease the motivation
Dutch demotiveren
- demotiverento decrease the motivation
Finnish lannistaa, viedä motivaatio
- lannistaato decrease the motivation
- viedä motivaatioto decrease the motivation
French démotiver
- démotiverto decrease the motivation
German demotivieren
- demotivierento decrease the motivation
Hindi हतोत्साहन
- हतोत्साहन (hatotsāhan)to decrease the motivation
Italian demotivare
- demotivareto decrease the motivation
Polish demotywować, zdemotywować
- demotywowaćto decrease the motivation
- zdemotywowaćto decrease the motivation
Portuguese desmotivar
- desmotivarto decrease the motivation
Russian демотиви́ровать
- демотиви́ровать (demotivírovatʹ)to decrease the motivation
Cite this entry
APA
demotivate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/demotivate
MLA
“demotivate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/demotivate. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “demotivate,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/demotivate.
Source: demotivate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.