ulterior motive plural ulterior motives
An alternative or extrinsic reason for doing something, especially when concealed or when differing from the stated or apparent reason.
1895 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , chapter 9, in The Stark Munro Letters :There lurks no bribe in the smell and beauty of the flower. Its charm has no ulterior motive .
1941 December 8, “Poetry ”, in Time :The poet is a man without a profit or any other kind of ulterior motive .
2006 Zoia's Gold [1] →ISBN 197 :I have an ulterior motive , of course. I want a progress report on the catalog. You've been so mysterious about the whole thing, people are starting to talk.
alternative or hidden reason for doing something
Catalan: segona intenció f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 不可告人 的 動機 ／ 不可告人 的 动机 ( bùkěgàorén de dòngjī ) , ( to have an ulterior motive ) 別有用心 ／ 别有用心 (zh) ( biéyǒuyòngxīn ) , 他心 ( tāxīn )
Danish: bagtanke c
Dutch: verborgen beweegredenen
Finnish: taka-ajatus (fi)
French: motif secret m arrière-pensée (fr) f idée derrière la tête (fr)
German: Hintergedanke (de) m
Greek: υστεροβουλία (el) f ( ysterovoulía )
Hungarian: hátsó szándék (hu)
Irish: aidhm fholaigh f
Japanese: 下心 (ja) ( したごころ, shitagokoro ) , 他心 ( たしん, tashin ) , 他意 (ja) ( たい, tai )
Korean: 배후목적 ( baehumokjeok )
Ladino: ramayu
Macedonian: задна цел ( zadna cel )
Norwegian: baktanke (no) m
Portuguese: segunda intenção f
Russian: за́дняя мысль (ru) f ( zádnjaja myslʹ ) , скры́тый моти́в m ( skrýtyj motív )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: скривени мотив m
Roman: skriveni motiv m
Spanish: segunda intención f
Swedish: baktanke (sv) c
Turkish: art niyet (tr) , art düşünce (tr)