incentivize

verb in·cen·tiv·ize \ in-ˈsen-tə-ˌvīz \

Definition of incentivize

incentivized; incentivizing

transitive verb

:to provide with an incentive

would incentivize employees with stock options

Recent Examples of incentivize from the Web

To incentivize ward economies, 38 percent of each ward’s municipal revenue collected finance the ward itself: brochures, park activities, secretaries, sidewalk upgrades, system repairs, and ward offices for rotating patrollers.

— Cincinnati.com, "Column: Civic cogency collection of Milford," 30 Aug. 2017
The bill would also incentivize states through federal funds to change their marijuana laws if those laws were shown to have a disproportionate effect on low-income individuals and/or people of color.

— jay willis, GQ, "Today Is the Day Cory Booker Became President [Hits Bong]," 1 Aug. 2017
The Hospital Value-Based Purchasing program, which was created by Obamacare, was designed to incentivize participating hospitals to increase efficiency and quality.

— ali meyer, Fox News, "ObamaCare program awarded hospitals thousands in bonuses even if they had low-quality scores," 5 July 2017
Some experts worry that this could incentivize states to avoid enrolling or providing comprehensive coverage to people who require more costly care.

— michael nedelman, CNN, "Musician with ALS faces next challenge: health care reform," 28 June 2017
There is a federal law specifically designed to incentivize citizens to come forward and expose fraud.

— warren richey, The Christian Science Monitor, "How helping whistle-blowers could cut health-care costs," 26 June 2017
The concern is that this practice could incentivize judges to rule against defendants in order to help pay to keep the courtroom lights on.

— richard rainey, NOLA.com, "In Bogalusa 'debtors prison' case, no class action for now," 22 June 2017
Countries that do not adhere to the standards, such as an oppressive regime, would not be eligible, but the framework could incentivize better respect for digital privacy among those nations, Walker said.

— reuters, Fortune, "Google Pressures Law Enforcement Officials Over Customer Data Laws," 22 June 2017
These refined coal credits were approved by Congress in 2004 in order to incentivize companies to fund production of cleaner coal.

— emily atkin, New Republic, "A major asthma drugmaker has been quietly investing in coal on the side.," 21 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'incentivize.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.