commodify
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to turn into a commodity; make commercial.
-
to treat as if a commodity.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of commodify
First recorded in 1975–80; commod(ity) ( def. ) + -ify ( def. )
Explanation
If your friend was charging you money to hang out with him, he would be trying to commodify your relationship, which means "turn into an opportunity to make money." Commodify comes from commodity, which often means "an item that can be bought and sold for money," plus the suffix -ify which is usually used to mean "make or turn into." So this word means "to make or turn into something that can be bought and sold for money." This term is often used in a disapproving way to imply that whatever is being commodified shouldn't be, maybe because it's special or private.
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:
"If you commodify one kind of thing, the things you can't commodify start to seem more important," he tells me.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
“Maybe the hotel industry will finally start paying attention and realize they can’t commodify privacy,” she said, “because people will just take their money and their travel budget to hotels that still have bathroom doors.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026
In some ways, it’s no wonder that artists are more inclined to be introspective right now, leaning into the personal to commodify pages from their diaries.
From Salon ● Feb. 5, 2025
The pursuit of online fame, particularly through Instagram, has supercharged the often toxic phenomenon, The Times found, encouraging parents to commodify their daughter’s images.
From New York Times ● Feb. 22, 2024
According to Andrews and a dissenting California Supreme Court judge, the ruling didn’t prevent commercialization; it just took patients out of the equation and emboldened scientists to commodify tissues in increasing numbers.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
When the founders of social media platforms and their VC backers realized self-expression could be commodified, the ad-driven, data-based new experiences were a betrayal.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026
If you are learning something a machine can learn from historical data, your skill is being commodified.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
Conceived as spaces of respite for athletes — whom Opie believes are more often commodified than nurtured — the pavilions will incorporate photos by the artist that reflect California’s “fragile environment.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026
As Fenway prices have soared, the experience commodified into a bucket list item with Green Monster seats and a “Sweet Caroline” singalong, the team’s performance has veered around like a cat driving a Buick.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026
The more commodified and restricted our access to information, the less efficient the operation of the market, the more poorly it allocates resources in our society.
From The Public Domain Enclosing the Commons of the Mind by James Boyle
The kitschiness fuels a debate about whether commodifying “dark tourism” is distasteful or makes history more accessible.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2024
There's a long history of commodifying domesticity in the name of women's liberation — a fact that's equal parts grim, subversive and empowering.
From Salon ● May 3, 2022
The album honors the Black American folk tradition without bastardizing or commodifying it.
From Slate ● Dec. 7, 2021
We are, in effect, providing that corporation—Disney—with a form of free advertising, commodifying and cheapening our justice work in the process.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 23, 2021
Tech companies, most notably Google, quickly recognized the value of online habits and the data they generated, collecting and commodifying internet activity before users or governments understood its importance.
From New York Times ● Dec. 10, 2020
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
