incentivize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Etymology
Origin of incentivize
An Americanism dating back to 1965–70
Explanation
To incentivize is to provide a reward or motivation for some action. Your teacher might incentivize the class by offering jelly beans to everyone who aces the next math quiz. Incentivize was first used in around 1970 as business jargon, and some still consider it to be annoying corporate lingo. It’s a legitimate word, though, made into a verb by adding -ize to incentive, which means "something that motivates or encourages." You might incentivize your dog to sit by giving her a treat every time she does it, or incentivize your brother to do your chores by offering him half your allowance as payment.
Vocabulary lists containing incentivize
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:
I’m kidding: Even under normal circumstances, giving private companies this much power is likely to incentivize inventing enemies to fight or drive unnecessary spending.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
“For me, this is a way to incentivize to slow people down,” McKinnor said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
“The concept, for us, is impact litigation. When the Civil Rights Division wins a case, everybody else stops engaging in the bad behavior. When we win that case, we incentivize private parties.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
Among other provisions, the bill would make it easier to build and finance manufactured homes, reduce builder regulations and use grants to incentivize home development.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
Parents can also incentivize their children to invest more.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 8, 2026
Weary of venomous snake bites, British authorities put a bounty on dead cobras — but this only incentivized locals to breed more of the snakes, in order to collect even more reward money.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
Publishers are incentivized to work with writers who come with a built-in fan base to market their books.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
“While there is still much work to do, FilmLA’s quarterly report is proof that incentives are working: local incentivized productions are on the rise,” said L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
For investors, that means that Tesla owners with AI3 hardware might be incentivized to buy FSD subscriptions for $99 a month.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
Under normal circumstances, Cerity Partners chief market strategist Jim Lebenthal explained, IPO underwriters are incentivized to reward their most important institutional customers with allocations.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 5, 2026
However, incentivizing buying used EVs doesn’t result in new production, he noted: “That’s just a change of hands.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s Workers’ Rights Bill in 2025 had the unintended effect of discouraging employers from making permanent hires and instead incentivizing them to take workers on as sub-contractors.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 15, 2026
By doing these things you are incentivizing him to behave more badly in the future.
From Slate ● Apr. 15, 2026
Each device integrates with another, incentivizing the user to buy more than one Apple product after entering the company’s sticky ecosystem.
From Barron's ● Mar. 31, 2026
Higher aluminum prices outside of China are also incentivizing producers there to export more, which mitigates some of the global supply risks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
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.
