Cause and Motive

Similar meaning words

mutual synonyms sentence examples collocations

Cause

Cause noun - Someone or something responsible for a result.
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Synonyms for Cause
Antonyms for Cause
Motive is a synonym for cause in reason topic. In some cases you can use "Motive" instead a noun "Cause", when it comes to topics like thing, basis, agent, aim. popular alternative
Nearby Words: caused, causation, causeless, causative, causal

Motive

Motive noun - Something (as a belief) that serves as the basis for another thing.
Usage example: the detective felt that the first suspect didn't have any motive for committing the crime
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Synonyms for Motive
Antonyms for Motive
Cause is a synonym for motive in reason topic. You can use "Cause" instead a noun "Motive", if it concerns topics such as thing, basis, aim, start. popular alternative
Nearby Words: motivate, motivation, motiveless, motivator, motived

Mutual synonyms

Related pairs

How words are described

good good cause good motive
clear clear cause clear motive
exact exact cause exact motive
common common cause common motive
Other adjectives: original, noble, true, likely, obvious, actual, entire, real, big, main, ultimate, new, major, political, possible, apparent, primary, different, underlying.

Both words in one sentence

  • Good Is Not Nice Even then, she has a tendency to beat the ever-loving crap out of anyone who gets in her way (including those who didn't have anything to do with what's happening) and has no tolerance for any Incidents, regardless of cause or motive.
    Source: Good Is Not Nice
  • A story told in reverse order, from end to beginning, revealing effects first, and working towards a climax which reveals cause and motive.
    Source: Back to Front
  • Heroic Comedic Sociopath Axel kills people constantly for no reason, and if he's looking at you you'd better hope it's no reason, 'cause he gets brutal when he has actual motive beyond "likes killing things".
    Source: Heroic Comedic Sociopath
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Cite this Source
Motive and Cause. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/cause/motive
Cause & Motive. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/cause/motive>.
Motive or Cause. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/cause/motive.

Synonyms for cause


Synonyms for motive

Google Ngram Viewer shows how "cause" and "motive" have occurred on timeline