Driven
What it means
Strongly motivated and persistently directed toward a result.
Reach for it when praising intense purpose when it remains healthy and considerate
The driven researcher repeated the trial until the safer material proved reliable.
Words to choose between 7
| playful | |
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| everyday | |
| warm | |
| professional |
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| formal | |
| literary |
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playful
go-getting
Fits when energetic enterprise suits an informal voice
Careful The expression sounds competitive and can cheapen service-oriented effort.
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everyday
Fits when willingness to work is the broad quality
Careful Motivation may be moderate or temporary, unlike driven intensity.
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warm
Fits when steadfast refusal to give up deserves praise
Careful Determination need not produce the restless momentum of being driven.
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professional
Fits when high achievement or advancement is the aim
Careful Ambition can be self-focused and says little about follow-through.
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professional
Fits when actions clearly serve a meaningful direction
Careful Purposeful people may work at a calm sustainable pace.
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formal
compelled
Fits when an inner or outer force feels difficult to resist
Careful Compelled reduces agency and is not automatically positive.
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literary
relentless
Fits when pressure or effort truly does not let up
Careful Relentless can praise harmful overwork and ignore needed limits.
Opposites 3
- unmotivated
- aimless
- complacent
Common phrases 3
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highly driven
The highly driven founder still protected weekends for recovery.
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driven person
A driven person may need permission to pause as well as encouragement.
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driven by purpose
The volunteers were driven by purpose rather than publicity.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Dvortygirl, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Updated