subsidize
Americanverb
-
to aid or support with a subsidy
-
to obtain the aid of by means of a subsidy
Usage
What does subsidize mean? To subsidize is to grant a subsidy—a direct payment made by a government to a company or other organization as a form of assistance. The process of subsidizing is subsidization. Governments often subsidize particular industries, such as through granting farm subsidies. The word subsidy is most commonly used to refer to such payments. More generally, subsidy can refer to any grant or monetary contribution. More specifically, it can refer to a payment made by one government to another for a particular service, often according to a treaty. Less commonly, the word subsidize can mean to gain someone’s cooperation through bribery. Subsidize is sometimes spelled subsidise (especially in British English). Example: The government is subsidizing my company to help expedite the manufacturing of healthcare products.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
desubsidizationnoun
-
subsidizationnoun
-
subsidizernoun
-
desubsidizeverb (used with object)
-
nonsubsidizedadjective
-
subsidizableadjective
-
unsubsidizedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
subsidizesimple
-
subsidizessimple
-
have subsidizedperfect
-
has subsidizedperfect
-
am subsidizingprogressive
-
are subsidizingprogressive
-
is subsidizingprogressive
-
have been subsidizingperfect progressive
-
has been subsidizingperfect progressive
Past
-
subsidizedsimple
-
had subsidizedperfect
-
was subsidizingprogressive
-
were subsidizingprogressive
-
had been subsidizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of subsidize
Explanation
To subsidize something is to support it by providing it with money or other resources. Don't expect your parents to subsidize your addiction to solid-gold puppy figurines. We can break down the word subsidize to help us remember its meaning. The prefix sub- means "under, below" and sedēre means "to sit." (A submarine is a ship that goes under the sea.) So to subsidize is to underwrite something financially, providing the support that keeps it going. For example, our taxes are used by the government to subsidize many educational and social programs.
Vocabulary lists containing subsidize
Donald Trump Inauguration Address- January 20, 2017
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
State of the Union Address 2016
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Lyddie
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Data centers would then have to subsidize electric-bill discounts and lower rates for customers with electric vehicles and solar panels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
That’s because they work as a form of life insurance, and those people who buy an annuity and die young effectively subsidize those who live to be very old.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026
The ports, as well as state and federal agencies, have already committed hundreds of millions of dollars to install charging infrastructure and subsidize purchases of zero-emission trucks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the remaining dollars would be spread across several other initiatives and could subsidize up to 40,000 rental apartments, 2,500 homes for farmworkers and 1,200 beds for university students:
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
It doesn’t include the billions the government spends to subsidize corn.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
To help make housing affordable, the Singaporean government subsidizes housing by building apartments around the city.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
It’s not known who subsidizes the low rents at C Street, which is technically a church and doesn’t disclose its backers.
From Salon ● May 29, 2026
He also lacked an enormous budget or access to the huge data centers that American artificial-intelligence companies have, but was able to tap a government-sponsored program that subsidizes computing power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026
Licenses granted before the moratorium have opened up the possibility of a new revenue source that could help Greenland become financially independent from Denmark, which currently subsidizes the semiautonomous territory.
From Barron's ● Jan. 7, 2026
Inside Jilin Province, China created the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, where forty percent of the population is ethnic Korean and where the government subsidizes Korean-language schools and publications.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
Third-party help includes Section 8 housing, which has eligibility requirements and waiting lists; senior housing; and subsidized apartments.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
While subsidized rice and beans were still widely available, ground beef was replaced with soy protein.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Ferguson, the focus is on a Washington state law that protects access to safe state-licensed youth shelters and subsidized mental healthcare counseling.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
Local governments offer subsidized housing and office space as well as computing-power vouchers to access AI more cheaply.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
Her father had subsidized Robbie’s education all his life.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
“We should not be subsidizing hedge funds,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
Her data showed that people in low-risk areas were essentially subsidizing high-risk homes in California’s wealth enclaves such as the Pacific Palisades devastated by the January 2025 firestorm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
Chinese open-source AI is subsidizing the rest of the world through cheap access to intelligence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Semianalysis, an AI-infrastructure data and consulting firm, recently published research showing how heavily the companies are subsidizing power users.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
And one that has been most useful to them is that of subsidizing those persons or elements who by their acts promote reaction.
From Violence and the Labor Movement by Robert Hunter
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
