subsidize
Americanverb
-
to aid or support with a subsidy
-
to obtain the aid of by means of a subsidy
Usage
What does subsidize mean? To subsidize is to grant a subsidy—a direct payment made by a government to a company or other organization as a form of assistance. The process of subsidizing is subsidization. Governments often subsidize particular industries, such as through granting farm subsidies. The word subsidy is most commonly used to refer to such payments. More generally, subsidy can refer to any grant or monetary contribution. More specifically, it can refer to a payment made by one government to another for a particular service, often according to a treaty. Less commonly, the word subsidize can mean to gain someone’s cooperation through bribery. Subsidize is sometimes spelled subsidise (especially in British English). Example: The government is subsidizing my company to help expedite the manufacturing of healthcare products.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
desubsidizationnoun
-
subsidizationnoun
-
subsidizernoun
-
desubsidizeverb (used with object)
-
nonsubsidizedadjective
-
subsidizableadjective
-
unsubsidizedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
subsidizesimple
-
subsidizessimple
-
have subsidizedperfect
-
has subsidizedperfect
-
am subsidizingprogressive
-
are subsidizingprogressive
-
is subsidizingprogressive
-
have been subsidizingperfect progressive
-
has been subsidizingperfect progressive
Past
-
subsidizedsimple
-
had subsidizedperfect
-
was subsidizingprogressive
-
were subsidizingprogressive
-
had been subsidizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of subsidize
Explanation
To subsidize something is to support it by providing it with money or other resources. Don't expect your parents to subsidize your addiction to solid-gold puppy figurines. We can break down the word subsidize to help us remember its meaning. The prefix sub- means "under, below" and sedēre means "to sit." (A submarine is a ship that goes under the sea.) So to subsidize is to underwrite something financially, providing the support that keeps it going. For example, our taxes are used by the government to subsidize many educational and social programs.
Vocabulary lists containing subsidize
Donald Trump Inauguration Address- January 20, 2017
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
State of the Union Address 2016
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Lyddie
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
“It does subsidize those that don’t need to be subsidized,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
Maral said he is waiting to see if any of the companies “meaningfully” subsidize the Duo, which can cost up to $3,199 outright.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
Faced with growing discontent, authorities have cut taxes and fees used to subsidize renewables.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Whether that money will buy new jobs or subsidize existing ones is the open question, said Patrick Button, a film and TV tax incentives skeptic and professor of economics at Tulane University.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
Spain, unlike Norway, was rich and populous enough to support exploration and subsidize colonies.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
To help make housing affordable, the Singaporean government subsidizes housing by building apartments around the city.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
Americans have largely heard about the famous French creche system of public daycares, but the French government also subsidizes the kind of one-on-one at-home care that many parents of infants prefer.
From Slate ● Jul. 6, 2026
It also subsidizes investment through taxes on households and a skimpy safety net, boosting saving.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
It’s not known who subsidizes the low rents at C Street, which is technically a church and doesn’t disclose its backers.
From Salon ● May 29, 2026
Inside Jilin Province, China created the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, where forty percent of the population is ethnic Korean and where the government subsidizes Korean-language schools and publications.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
For 60 years, Cuban life revolved around a small well-thumbed ration book used by families to buy subsidized goods in state-run stores.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Ferguson, the focus is on a Washington state law that protects access to safe state-licensed youth shelters and subsidized mental healthcare counseling.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
Mazariegos wants to use public land to build social housing, which is publicly subsidized housing separate from the rental market.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Richemont subsidized the purchase by loading the deal with cash and credit in exchange for roughly a third of the shares of the holding company, now called LuxExperience.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
A woman whose wages she paid, whose rent she had subsidized, whose daughter spent hours and hours under this very roof every single day.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
“I don’t know that just subsidizing people is a complete answer,” Seroka said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Chinese open-source AI is subsidizing the rest of the world through cheap access to intelligence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Currently tenants with vouchers subsidizing their rent payments need a government inspection before they can move in.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
If a new owner would be willing, should the taxpayers of Anaheim consider subsidizing the name?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
If anything happened, for instance, to make inter-state railroad corporations less dependent on the state governments, they would no longer need the expense of subsidizing the state machines.
From The Promise of American Life by Herbert David Croly
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.
