adjective
ulterior
ul-TEER-ee-er/ʌlˈtɪriər/
Concealed behind an openly stated reason or purpose.
She suspects an ulterior motive behind his offer to help.
Etymology
The image of being on the farther side of a boundary became being beyond what is shown or admitted. An ulterior motive thus lies beyond the openly stated reason.
In context
if your narrator is telling the story they probably have an ulterior motive and they have an agenda. And then you'll get to a bit in the book where the reader realizes that they've not been given the full story.
More examples
- He volunteers out of kindness, with no ulterior motive.
- The invitation seems friendly, but I wonder about ulterior motives.
- She praises the plan with the ulterior purpose of securing funding.