incentive

American  

[in-sen-tiv] / ɪnˈsɛn tɪv /

noun

incentives plural

1. something that incites or tends to incite to action or greater effort, as a reward offered for increased productivity.

   Synonyms:

   prod, goad, encouragement, impulse, incitement, spur, stimulus

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adjective

1. inciting, as to action; stimulating; provocative.

incentive British  

/ ɪnˈsɛntɪv /

noun

1. a motivating influence; stimulus

2. 1. an additional payment made to employees as a means of increasing production

   2. ( as modifier )

      an incentive scheme

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adjective

1. serving to incite to action

Synonym Usage

See motive.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• counterincentive
  noun
• preincentive
  noun
• superincentive
  noun
• nonincentive
  adjective
• incentively
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• incentives
  plural

Etymology

Origin of incentive

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Late Latin incentīvus “provocative,” in Latin: “setting the tune,” from incent(us) “played” (past participle of incinere “to play (an instrument, tunes),” from in- in- ² + -cinere, combining form of canere “to sing”) + -īvus -ive

Explanation

If your mom wants you to mow the lawn but you don't feel like it, she might offer to treat you to ice cream after as an incentive. An incentive is something that stimulates you to take action or work harder. This noun dates back to Middle English, from Late Latin incentivum, from incentivus, "stimulating." In Latin, incentivus meant "setting the tune," from incinere, "to sing." The related English verb is incentivize. The less common verb incent was first used in the early 1980s, and has been criticized as business jargon.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

incentive incentives

This takes away the incentive for landlords to hire a broker, because then they would be required to pay the fee.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026

It also creates an incentive for countries to comply with trade pacts that they earlier struck, she added.

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

The U.S. no longer has a national EV incentive program.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

Under the ETS, Europe's industries and power plants are required to buy a permit, or allowance, for every tonne of carbon dioxide they emit, creating a financial incentive to invest in cleaner technologies.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

In the 1970s, researchers conducted a study that, like the Israeli day-care study, pitted a moral incentive against an economic incentive.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

She said she acted with board approval and spent school money on kids and for staff development and incentives to retain valued personnel in a challenging inner-city environment.

From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026

To fight back, they are trying to lock in customers, offering partnerships, tens of thousands of dollars in incentives and heavily subsidized AI usage.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

But any boost from the incentives was offset by serious declines for productions that are not eligible for the state’s film and TV tax credit program.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

"It creates additional incentives for fishermen" and makes conservation even harder.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

If economics is a science primarily concerned with incentives, it is also—fortunately—a science with statistical tools to measure how people respond to those incentives.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

Related Words

• encouragement
• enticement
• impetus
• motivation
• reason
• stimulus