Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

incent

/ɪnˈsɛnt/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.55 in modern English

Syllables: in-cent
IPA: /ɪnˈsɛnt/

8

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To provide an incentive to (a person or organization).

American usage; Transitive verb

verb

To provide an incentive for (something).

American usage; Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"We need to incent people to innovate more."
"We try to incent people to do it earlier, which levels the load."
"HUD programs to incent owners to maintain affordable housing units have preserved over 3,500 projects with about 300,000 units."
"incent investors to manage assets with a long-term perspective"
"Whether it’s a sense of companionship or the promise of elicit conversations that border on phone sex, users are incented to grow closer and closer to their avatar (and, ultimately, to buy a physical body for them, something Jackie hinted at on a couple of occasions)."
"We need to incent more innovation."

Etymology

Back-formation from incentive. Clipping of incentivize

Usage

American usage
Transitive verb

Inflected Forms

incents (present, singular) incenting (participle, present) incented (participle, past) incented (past)

Frequently Paired Words

incentivize incentivise

Rhymes With

went event present sent percent spent content meant cent prevent rent extent

Questions

How do you pronounce incent?: The recorded pronunciation is /ɪnˈsɛnt/.
What does incent mean?: To provide an incentive to (a person or organization).
Where does incent come from?: Back-formation from incentive. Clipping of incentivize

How to pronounce incent

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “incent”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ɪnˈsɛnt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “incent”.
Repeat and practice — Say “incent” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.