Synonyms for incentive
Most common
All synonyms
Noun
1. Inducement
inducement, impetus, motive, motivator, stimulus, encouragement, cause, incitement, spur, impulse, goad, stimulant, provocative, provocation
Other
Definitions
- n. 1
Something that motivates, rouses, or encourages.
I have no incentive to do housework right now.
Related words
- Word family
- incentify incentivize
Forms
- Plural
- incentives → inducements, impetuses, motives, motivators…
Example sentences
- motive Now we are better able to understand their motive.
- impetus What's the impetus underlying all of your actions?
- motivator Greed is a powerful motivator for some people.
- bonus Some are simply plump, others have a bonus goiter.
- carrot Mark put a carrot nose on the snowman's face.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| incentive | falling | |
| motive | steady | |
| impetus | falling | |
| motivator | rising | |
| inducement | falling | |
| bonus | falling |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- spur1, goad1
- 5 letters
- cause1, bonus2
- 6 letters
- motive2, carrot2
- 7 letters
- impulse2, impetus3
- 8 letters
- stimulus3
- 9 letters
- stimulant3, motivator4
- 10 letters
- incitement3, inducement3, incitative
- 11 letters
- provocative4, provocation4
- 12 letters
- incentivizer
- 13 letters
- encouragement4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (bonus2 = 2 syllables).