commodify

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.

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 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 And the logic of marketing dictates that dating apps commodify people into legible archetypes for an easy sale. Josh Greenblatt, WIRED, 17 July 2024 Will the drive to commodify ancient practices defile them? Oshan Jarow, Vox, 7 June 2024 See All Example Sentences for commodify
Recent Examples of Synonyms for commodify
Verb
  • Our own threat research labs (CTRL) revealed five trends defining how bad actors will further exploit AI to advance their malicious intentions.
    Etay Maor, Forbes.com, 23 May 2025
  • Updates often include important security patches that fix vulnerabilities hackers might try to exploit.
    Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 22 May 2025
Verb
  • All platforms manipulate users to keep them scrolling.
    Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 23 May 2025
  • Attackers can design prompts that insert malicious instructions through seemingly innocent prompts, manipulate the model to reset its understanding of its role or subtly influence the model's output by feeding misleading information or context.
    Etay Maor, Forbes.com, 23 May 2025
Verb
  • The bill was named after Trey Carlock, a Dallas native who died by suicide in 2019 at the age of 28 after being abused by a Missouri summer camp director.
    Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 May 2025
  • Two tribal nations filed a lawsuit saying that the federal government used the trust fund money of tribes to pay for boarding schools where generations of Native children were systematically abused.
    Graham Lee Brewer, Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2025
Verb
  • The proliferation of strong offerings from international universities demonstrate the battleground, where universities are increasingly commercialized, and students are the consumers.
    Dr. Shaheena Janjuha-Jivraj, Forbes.com, 26 May 2025
  • Autonomous vehicle technology has been hard to commercialize, with tight regulations and heavy investments forcing many companies to give up.
    Akash Sriram, USA Today, 22 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Commodify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/commodify. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.

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