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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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of commodify
The play isn’t subtle in presenting its allegory of national racial dysfunction—the white family’s self-absorption in the face of Black suffering, and their swift move to commodify it—but Jacobs-Jenkins’s dramatic machinery is often immensely effective.
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Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 20 Dec. 2023
The five young women in the group must navigate the dark side of a glamorous industry determined to commodify them.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 13 Feb. 2023
Candyman is the most disappointing film of the year so far, limning not only the artistic failures of the individuals who ushered it to life, but the artistic failures of an entire industry that seeks to commodify Blackness to embolden its bottom line.
—Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 25 Aug. 2021
There was no obvious way to commodify Paik’s art.
—Hua Hsu, The New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2023
See all Example Sentences for commodify 
Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 20 Dec. 2023
The five young women in the group must navigate the dark side of a glamorous industry determined to commodify them.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 13 Feb. 2023
Candyman is the most disappointing film of the year so far, limning not only the artistic failures of the individuals who ushered it to life, but the artistic failures of an entire industry that seeks to commodify Blackness to embolden its bottom line.
—Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 25 Aug. 2021
There was no obvious way to commodify Paik’s art.
—Hua Hsu, The New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2023
See all Example Sentences for commodify
Recent Examples of Synonyms for commodify
Verb
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Scientists are also trying to exploit the fungus’s sensitivity to temperature by building Bd-free habitats or moving frogs to locales where the fungus can’t survive.Martin J. Kernan, Discover Magazine, 16 Nov. 2024
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Still, just last year, Chinese hackers exploited Microsoft security lapses to breach the email accounts of senior U.S. officials.Renee Dudley, ProPublica, 15 Nov. 2024
Verb
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For another, the sheer number of disparate state and local jurisdictions that would need to be manipulated makes any attempt to steal an election much harder.Jenna Bednar, Foreign Affairs, 5 Nov. 2024
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Would a small child be able to manipulate controls, turn the machine on, skip tracks, or otherwise program the device without an adult’s help?Cheryl Fenton, Parents, 2 Nov. 2024
Verb
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The European Commission has launched a formal investigation into Corning for possibly abusing its market dominance in supplying its protective glass to electronics vendors.Michael Kan, PCMAG, 6 Nov. 2024
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In her old home, Sasha was abused and could not walk or clean herself properly.Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024
Verb
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The company entered into a license agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD), granting Gilead an exclusive global license to develop and commercialize XTX301.Quartz Bot, Quartz, 7 Nov. 2024
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The Harmonic Drive was first commercialized by the early 1960s.New Atlas, New Atlas, 4 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Commodify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/commodify. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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