Deincentivizing

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Definitions

1. Making a particular action less attractive by removing or reducing the reward or motive that would encourage it
2. Reducing the motivation or encouragement people have to pursue a certain behavior or outcome
3. Discouraging an activity by taking away the benefits, rewards or reasons that would otherwise promote it

Etymology: "Deincentivizing" is the present participle and gerund of "deincentivize," a verb built from the prefix "de-" and "incentivize." The prefix is the familiar one meaning "reverse" or "remove," as in "decode" or "deforest," so the verb means to remove the incentive for something, or to make a course of action less attractive by taking away its reward. The base word, "incentivize," is itself a later formation: it takes "incentive," a noun meaning something that motivates a person to act, and adds the verb-making suffix "-ize," which has been used for centuries to turn nouns into verbs. "Deincentivize" then reverses that process. Because it is assembled from parts English already had, it reads as a coinage of modern administrative and economic talk, where policymakers often speak of deincentivizing a practice rather than simply discouraging it.