How to Use disincentive in a Sentence

disincentive

noun
  • The complicated application process was a disincentive to volunteering our time.
  • We considered volunteering, but the complicated application process was a disincentive.
  • Pet owners must pay for most of these steps, which can be a further disincentive.
    — Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 20 Jan. 2025
  • The engagement ring, in fact, could be seen as a disincentive to marry.
    — Time, 28 June 2023
  • But the new rules would be a disincentive to responsible people who would like to keep bees.
    — Kevin Riordan, Philly.com, 4 Feb. 2018
  • That ensures the underwriting banks have skin in the game and gives them a disincentive to price sales too high.
    — Washington Post, 18 Sep. 2019
  • In the worst-case scenario, tax credits create disincentives to work.
    — Veronique De Rugy, Twin Cities, 16 Oct. 2024
  • The company would also build a railroad along the wall as a further disincentive to try to cross it.
    — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 5 Apr. 2017
  • That means people who would like to buy a home in an expensive market may encounter a tax disincentive to do so.
    — Washington Post, 21 Dec. 2017
  • That means people who would like to buy a home in an expensive market may encounter a tax disincentive to do so.
    — Sarah Skidmore Sell and Ken Sweet, Houston Chronicle, 23 Dec. 2017
  • Pallets have a special disincentive for most kinds of recycling because they’re made of both hard and soft wood.
    — Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 26 Apr. 2021
  • Pallets have a special disincentive for most kinds of recycling because they're made of both hard and soft wood.
    — Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 27 July 2021
  • Its basic premise is that traffic can be reduced by charging a fee or toll at peak hours that would serve as a disincentive to drivers.
    — Winnie Hu and Vivian Wang, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2018
  • What may well have been a sincere desire to help people in a time of need translated into a disincentive to go back to work.
    — Nihal Krishan, Washington Examiner, 19 Nov. 2020
  • Nonetheless, at least some owners say the tax is a strong disincentive to overspending.
    — Jared Diamond, WSJ, 11 Jan. 2019
  • The press is provided with every disincentive to venture out.
    — Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 14 June 2019
  • If everyone gets a free pass, then that makes fools of those who followed the law and acts as a disincentive to anyone doing so in the future.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 10 Sep. 2024
  • Deadlines and a combination of incentives to change and disincentives to stick with the old.
    — Zak Doffman, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2025
  • Economists have long said the rule acted as a disincentive for women to rejoin the workforce full time because they would be taxed more.
    — Georgi Kantchev, WSJ, 22 Dec. 2021
  • Tough driving disincentives and bold transit options are nowhere in all the Ford Site planning to date.
    — Letter Writers, Twin Cities, 21 Nov. 2019
  • That’s a disincentive to keep planting fields already threatened by missiles and strewn with explosive mines.
    — Hanna Arhirova, Chicago Tribune, 30 July 2023
  • Yet even when people are in the grips of a delusion, their behavior can sometimes be shaped with incentives and disincentives.
    — Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2023
  • Becoming ensnared in the laws of multiple states is a huge disincentive for a bank to partner with a firm to offer new lending products.
    — John Berlau, National Review, 9 June 2021
  • Byrne said the Bureau's mishandling of a tip could even be a disincentive for potential tipsters in the future.
    — Lawrence Specker, AL.com, 19 Feb. 2018
  • This year’s report is the latest in a series of reports on work disincentives dating back to 2008.
    — Michael Bernick, Forbes, 17 Dec. 2024
  • Szulewski said the park’s current use is a disincentive for further development.
    — Steven Mihailovich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Feb. 2026
  • Increasing the smoking age could create a powerful disincentive in a state where one-in-five people smoke, supporters of the bill said.
    — Brian Slodysko, The Seattle Times, 10 Feb. 2018
  • Taking away the free step-up in basis creates a disincentive to invest for the long term and ensures even less capital flowing to real estate.
    — Dan Palmer and David Williams, WSJ, 25 Oct. 2021
  • President Joe Biden has said the extra benefits do not act as a disincentive for people to return to work.
    — Devan Cole, CNN, 9 May 2021
  • As the pace of such severe events accelerates, there is a need to reconsider the incentives (and lack of disincentives) to build in risky areas.
    — Doug Criscitello, Forbes, 9 Oct. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'disincentive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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