Dictionary

mismotivate en · VERB

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *mey-? Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂-der. Proto-Germanic *missaz Proto-Germanic *missa- Proto-West Germanic *missa- Old English mis- Middle English mys- English mis- Anglo-Norman motifder. Middle French motifder. Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *m(y)owh₁éyeti Proto-Italic *moweō Latin moveō Latin mōtus Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Late Latin mōtīvumder. Middle English motif English motive Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātuslbor. English -ate English motivate English mismotivate From mis- + motivate.

Meanings

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. 1944, Business Education World - Volume 24, page 397:
   • It is confusion between having a fixed nature and having a fixed future that mismotivates the anguish over determinism. 2003, Daniel C. Dennett, Freedom Evolves:
   • On the other hand, a woman with a major or recurrent problem (VD, unplanned pregnancies, recurrent vaginal infection, anorgasmia, etc.) needs guidance to find the root of her problem: Has she “mismotivated” herself”? Has she lost her “healthy image” of herself? 2012, Allen Lawrence, Laura Edwards, “Self-Help in Gynecological Practice”, in Martha Kirkpatrick, editor, Women’s Sexual Development: Explorations of Inner Space, page 273:

Forms