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

According to the paper, the proposal is "among measures being drawn up" by Pentagon officials as an incentive to reach "Nato's 5% spending pledge".

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

Nvidia’s incentive is clear: The more power developers it works with, the more data centers that are specially built for its chips versus its competitors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Massie argued that temporarily dumping cheaper foreign beef into the American market could lower prices without giving U.S. ranchers an incentive to raise more cattle.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026

The summer increase in U.S. yields was starting to pressure on stocks, boosting the incentive for the administration to act.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

As added incentive they were given a little food and money.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

A successful global campaign against Iran may require Washington "to provide incentives" to Beijing to join it, said Lim Tai Wei, a professor and East Asia expert at Japan's Soka University.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

But public officials say the law also enabled aggressive trial lawyers and alleged fraudsters in a state where local governments have big incentives to settle civil suits, even without fully vetting abuse claims.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Louisiana Economic Development said it offered SpaceX a conditional “competitive incentives package” that requires the company to create jobs, invest capital and donate $25 million to a local charity.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

“You’re going to have some content that is produced elsewhere, whether it’s because of tax incentives elsewhere, or stylistic or artistic choices that are made in terms of” shooting locations, Schultz said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

High-stakes testing also presents teachers with some positive incentives.

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

Related Words

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