commercialize

verb

com·​mer·​cial·​ize kə-ˈmər-shə-ˌlīz 

commercialized; commercializing

transitive verb

1

a

: to manage on a business basis for profit

b

: to develop commerce in

2

: to exploit for profit

commercialize Christmas

3

: to debase in quality for more profit

commercialization

kə-ˌmər-sh(ə-)lə-ˈzā-shən 

noun

Examples of commercialize in a Sentence

The company hopes to commercialize the drug next year.

Recent Examples on the Web

The company says it’s raised up to $1 billion, including from Uber, to help commercialize its robotic big rig business and fund a surprise foray into the robotaxi market. —Danielle Chemtob, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026

How did Valentine's Day become commercialized? —Marina Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal, 29 Jan. 2026

But Zhang wants to be a global leader in the underlying technology, rather than just another Chinese company commercializing existing ideas. —Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 28 Jan. 2026

Over the last couple of years, the FireDrone concept has now evolved from a research project to a product being developed by an EMPA spinoff company, so it can be commercialized. —Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 27 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for commercialize

• actualize
• antagonize
• apologise
• apologize
• capitalize
• categorize
• characterize
• conceptualize
• contrariwise
• criminalize
• decentralize
• democratize

Kids Definition

commercialize

verb

com·​mer·​cial·​ize kə-ˈmər-shə-ˌlīz 

commercialized; commercializing

1

: to manage for the sake of making a profit

2

: to use for profit

commercialize Christmas

commercialization

-ˌmər-shə-lə-ˈzā-shən 

noun