commodify

Definition of commodifynext
as in to exploit
disapproving to treat (something that cannot be owned or that everyone has a right to) like a product that can be bought and sold Do we really want to commodify our water supply? I feel like our culture is being commodified.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of commodify Or will the troves of data being amassed on nonhuman animals be used to further commodify and objectify them? David Gruber, Time, 24 Apr. 2025 Publicis and other advertising firms argue that these new AI tools makes marketing more relevant to customers and less wasteful, but regulators — particularly in Europe — remain wary of systems that commodify vast amounts of personal data. Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 20 Mar. 2025 If the sole aim of a company is to profit, extraction and exploitation become the norm as businesses seek new resources to commodify. Aissa Dearing, JSTOR Daily, 9 Jan. 2025 Far from democratizing creativity, these projects frequently centralize authority and commodify the works of individual creators. Virginie Berger, Forbes, 17 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for commodify
Recent Examples of Synonyms for commodify
Verb
  • That could be an area González looks to exploit Sunday, using the pace and creativity of Miami’s attacking stars to strike before San Diego can reorganize defensively.
    Tyler Carmona, Miami Herald, 19 Sep. 2026
  • The document, which was highly classified and written in Arabic, suggested that Hamas was planning to exploit the hostage families’ protests to fracture Israeli society.
    Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Posters are editing and manipulating the recordings to distort their content.
    Jennifer McRae, CBS News, 16 Sep. 2026
  • But even if the risks are merely bad—like hacking into a single financial institution or hospital, manipulating the stock market, or taking out an electrical grid—suing a company after the fact won’t really provide the outcome society wants.
    Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Look what women can do when they’re not abused, oppressed, and angry about being abused and oppressed!
    Ben Travers, IndieWire, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Ultimately, the show attempts to draw a parallel between Lizzie Borden and Aileen Wuornos, portraying them as two women abused and mistreated by society who dared to fight back.
    Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 17 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • As the world scrambles to commercialize safer solid-state batteries and cheaper sodium-ion alternatives, knowing exactly how ions move is everything.
    Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 7 Sep. 2026
  • That’s thanks to educational institutions like the University of Toronto, and public-private research institutes like the Vector Institute, which Hinton co-founded to help commercialize AI breakthroughs.
    Clare Duffy, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Commodify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/commodify. Accessed 21 Sep. 2026.

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