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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Recent Examples of commodify
If the sole aim of a company is to profit, extraction and exploitation become the norm as businesses seek new resources to commodify
The theory of shareholder wealth maximization has, in recent years, been met with significant scrutiny.
—
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
This refers to the societal tendency to commodify every aspect of life, often to the detriment of authenticity and human connection.
—Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2024
Critics argue these policies effectively commodify citizenship, potentially undermining social cohesion.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 2 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for 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
This refers to the societal tendency to commodify every aspect of life, often to the detriment of authenticity and human connection.
—Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2024
Critics argue these policies effectively commodify citizenship, potentially undermining social cohesion.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 2 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for commodify
Recent Examples of Synonyms for commodify
Verb
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The risk was leaving big spaces out wide that could be exploited in transition, by Juventus’ wing-backs especially.—
Liam Tharme,
New York Times,
28 June 2025
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Pratt’s conviction kept him behind bars for 27 years, and the case haunted Cochran, who believed Pratt was innocent and who had made a mistake at trial that prosecutors skillfully exploited.—
Christopher Goffard,
Los Angeles Times,
28 June 2025
Verb
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The legislation was driven by concerns that the Chinese government could manipulate content and access sensitive data from American users.—
Dylan Butts,
CNBC,
30 June 2025
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Fox agreed two years ago to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787 million to drop a lawsuit related to the network’s false claims that voting machines were manipulated to help President Biden win the 2020 election.—
Taryn Luna,
Los Angeles Times,
27 June 2025
Verb
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But even more terrifying than the guard dogs were those abused by local miscreants that trained dogs to fight.—
Thomas Cangelosi,
Hartford Courant,
27 June 2025
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In other words, don’t count on class actions to rein in Administrations bent on abusing the law.—
Ruth Marcus,
New Yorker,
27 June 2025
Verb
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Steele told me how witnessing this coming of Victory is a guide to ownership in hip-hop culture, as most acts of that era were not necessarily privy on exactly how to commercialize their real rap.—
Ime Ekpo,
Forbes.com,
17 June 2025
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One of the largest assets is Buffett’s stake in Margaritaville, the chain of restaurants, bars, hotels and merchandising that commercialized the Buffett lifestyle.—
Robert Frank,
CNBC,
13 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Commodify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/commodify. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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