Unmotivatingly

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a manner that fails to inspire enthusiasm or drive; lacking encouragement or incentive that might prompt action or interest; performed without arousing motivation or desire to continue
2. Exhibiting a style or approach that does not stimulate eagerness or ambition; characterized by absence of motivating factors or reasons to engage; done in a way that discourages initiative or effort
3. Acting or occurring without producing a sense of purpose or urge to act; showing deficiency in fostering determination or interest; carried out in a way that diminishes motivation or passion

Etymology: "Motive" began as a physical idea. Its root is Latin "movere," "to move," and in late Middle English it could describe something that causes movement, before it came to mean a mental impulse that moves a person to act. "Motivate" was formed later from that noun, and "motivating" is its present participle, describing something that stirs someone to act. The rest of the word is built from familiar English parts. The prefix "un-" is the native Old English negator, and "-ly" turns the adjective "unmotivating" into an adverb. Taken together, the word describes an action that fails to stir any drive or enthusiasm in the people involved. Its meaning therefore runs almost the reverse of its ancestor's: "motive" concerns what sets things moving, and this word describes doing something in a way that leaves no one moving at all.