gamify
Americanverb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of gamify
Explanation
To gamify a task or activity is to make it into a game, especially online. If taking out the trash were gamified, you’d earn points each time, with bonus points for speed, and you’d be trying to get your name on the leaderboard! The word gamify first appeared in the early 2000s, when there was a surge in online activity of all kinds. Now many apps and websites are gamified, such as those for fitness, shopping, music lessons, or language learning. Points, rewards, levels, challenges, races, and badges are some of the features used in gamifying. Offline activities can also be gamified as a way to motivate and engage people.
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:
Other apps, including Focus Friend and Forest, gamify and reward putting down the phone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Families can get as elaborate as they want with points or an auction to gamify the system.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 21, 2025
“I’ve continued to see different opportunities to gamify education,” Kenney said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2024
Too Good To Go has tried to gamify buying leftover food.
From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2022
Whereas Pokémon Go was an attempt to turn a beloved fictional world into an IRL experience, Pikmin Bloom instead uses a cute Nintendo franchise as a way to gamify walking.
From The Verge ● Oct. 26, 2021
One said the gamified challenge would push her to be more active.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Trading had been explicitly gamified in a way that mirrors the likes on Instagram and late-night texting with friends.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026
Still, the book stack model gamified my reading habits and now I give books time I didn’t feel I had before.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 26, 2025
To be fair, Temu’s popularity isn’t totally tied to how broke everybody is — Temu’s hyperactive interface is a masterclass in gamified consumption, rendering a purchase of new socks a trip to the digital casino.
From Salon ● May 7, 2025
But "gamifying" people's data in this way, can actually change how they listen to music, says Richard Whittle, Professor of artificial intelligence and public policy at the University of Salford.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025
If we are gamifying life-and-death issues, it could really negatively influence culture and society in a way we don’t like.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2025
Q: You have a policy about gamifying return to work.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 10, 2023
Web3 dangles a different promise — that by gamifying and even financializing the notion of feedback, it can lubricate a robust community that is available to all.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 14, 2022
Spice DAO is gamifying user-created content which engages the community to actively participate in the process of creation rather than passively experiencing it.
From The Verge ● May 27, 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.
