incentivize

verb

in·​cen·​tiv·​ize in-ˈsen-tə-ˌvīz 

incentivized; incentivizing

transitive verb

: to provide with an incentive

would incentivize employees with stock options

Examples of incentivize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Since becoming mayor in 2014, Anne Hidalgo has rolled out policies restricting car use while incentivizing cycling. —Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 20 Mar. 2026

This will incentivize safety over quick profit. —J. Xavier Prochaska, Mercury News, 18 Mar. 2026

For that reason, government intervention to incentivize vaccination and increase uptake is not only reasonable, but necessary. —Virginia E. Pitzer, Hartford Courant, 17 Mar. 2026

In South Africa, legislation in the early two-thousands codified a program called Black Economic Empowerment, which, among other initiatives, incentivizes employers to hire Black South Africans; a more recent law allows the government to expropriate private land, sometimes without compensation. —Boyce Upholt, New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

incentive + -ize

First Known Use

1960, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for incentivize

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