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.
Related Words
Relevance
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
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
-
Lunn promised to provide low-cost necessities—groceries, coal, and ice for the pre-electric era iceboxes—by starting city-run businesses to compete with private merchants who exploited their poor customers.—
Time,
Time,
22 July 2025
-
Given that many forms of manufacturing are labor-intensive, any country where the cost of labor is lower than the cost in the U.S. can exploit such an opportunity.—
Sheldon H. Jacobson,
Chicago Tribune,
22 July 2025
Verb
-
Fast-forward to this month, when Paramount agreed to a $16 million settlement to move past Trump's claims that CBS's 60 Minutes deceptively manipulated a pre-election interview with Kamala Harris.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
25 July 2025
-
The Dershowitz theory does not compute because the government invariably manipulates projections about future harm for ulterior partisan or personal motives.—
Bruce Fein,
Baltimore Sun,
24 July 2025
Verb
-
At the time of her death, Sardinha was studying to become a counselor with the hope of working with women who had been abused, her mother told Orange County Superior Court Judge Michael J. Leversen.—
Sean Emery,
Oc Register,
25 July 2025
-
According to prosecutors, Maxwell helped Jeffrey Epstein recruit, groom, and abuse minor girls from about 1994 to about 2004, including girls as young as 14 years old.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
25 July 2025
Verb
-
Industry partners see several revenue opportunities, including ticket sales and commercializing long corridors of railway rights-of-way.—
Joe Edwards,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 July 2025
-
Over the last decade, Shine has commercialized technology to separate isotopes for medical applications such as treating cancer.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
7 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Commodify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/commodify. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share