Meaning & use
money motivated
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivenot comparable
Wanting to earn money more than anything else; driven mainly by financial reward.
Grammar: Used after linking verbs like be, seem, get; not usually before a noun unless hyphenated.
Patterns
- be money motivated
- seem money motivated
- get money motivated
She's very money motivated, so she always takes the highest-paying job.
I'm not money motivated; I'd rather have more free time than a bigger salary.
The company looks for money-motivated salespeople who enjoy earning commissions.
Common combinations
- highly money motivated
- He's highly money motivated and checks his bank balance every day.
- purely money motivated
- Her decision to change careers was purely money motivated.
- money-motivated person
- They hired a money-motivated person to lead the fundraising team.
Synonyms and how they differ
- greedy
- Much stronger and negative; it suggests wanting more than you need, while money motivated is more neutral and simply describes what drives someone.
- profit-driven
- Often used for companies and projects, not people, and focuses on profit rather than personal motivation.
Opposites
Word family
- motivate verb
- To make someone want to do something.
- motivated adjective
- Wanting to do something; having a reason to act.
- motivation noun
- The reason or desire that makes someone act.
Commonly confused: money motivated or money-oriented?
money motivated vs money-oriented
Similar, but money-oriented is more formal and often describes a whole business or culture, not a single person's feelings.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'money motivated' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase follows a linking verb like 'is' and describes the person's motivation. Option A needs a hyphen (a money-motivated worker), option C uses it as a verb, and option D uses a wrong verb pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “money motivated”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.