disincentivize
Americanverb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of disincentivize
First recorded in 1985–90; dis- 1 ( def. ) + incentivize ( def. )
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:
Alan Greenspan, then-chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, argued for increasing the gas tax to as high as 30 cents a gallon—which would be roughly $2 in today’s dollars—to disincentivize gas consumption.
From Barron's ● May 12, 2026
The league made it harder for the worst teams to secure the best prospects in a bid to disincentivize teams from copying the Sabres’ dismal playbook.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
Those are the kind of circumstances that disincentivize additional lucrative, long-term deals; especially for a Dodgers franchise that remains focused on keeping its championship window open as long as possible.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2025
"Betting markets incentivize being right and disincentivize being wrong. If you're right you make money, if you're wrong you lose money," said Crane, the Rutgers professor.
From Salon ● Dec. 3, 2024
“These bans disincentivize the far safer product and move people back to a product that’s going to kill one in two of them,” Douglas says.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 1, 2024
Well, those three first-rounders should be much more valuable if other teams are disincentivized to trade their first-rounders, seeing how even middle-of-the-pack teams will have a shot at winning the lottery.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
Inside the country, the government has imposed a state of emergency and deployed military forces to the streets, which has disincentivized mobilization.
From Slate ● Jan. 6, 2026
Still, some experts defend the rule, citing ways in which the original policy disincentivized warehousing people in psychiatric institutions, a longstanding goal of patient rights and mental health advocates.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 17, 2022
The guidelines’ silence on mild disease, he says, has disincentivized him from widening his focus.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 20, 2022
The high interest rates on bank deposits encouraged a rentier economy that disincentivized investment in industry and agriculture.
From New York Times ● Oct. 28, 2021
But critics claim the intended effects have backfired, instead stifling sales and slowing apartment construction by disincentivizing developers to build, as the tax eats into their profit margins.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
“I think this is probably a time to worry less about disincentivizing growth and worry more about making sure that everyone gets a part of that growth,” Amodei said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026
By 1996, the United States had signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty—credited not only with stopping the environmental damage of nuclear testing, but also with disincentivizing new weapons designs.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 20, 2023
“And I worry about disincentivizing that by creating a financial barrier.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 24, 2023
MLB hopes the rule will encourage better control from pitchers by disincentivizing wild pitches and passed balls.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2022
Definitions 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.
