subsidise

subsidise — verb

1. to give money towards the price of a product, service, or activity, usually so t

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to give money towards the price of a product, service, or activity, usually so that it remains affordable for the people who use or need it.

Example

The city council subsidises bus fares for students and elderly residents.

collocation: subsidise fares / transport

Sahil's employer subsidises his monthly train pass to encourage staff to use public transport.

collocation: subsidise employee costs

Common collocations
  • subsidise housing / childcare / healthcare / education / transport / agriculture / industry
  • government-subsidised / state-subsidised / taxpayer-subsidised / federally-subsidised
Synonyms
  • fund

    broader — can mean providing all the money, not just part

  • support

    more general — can include non-financial help

  • finance

    more formal; can mean covering the entire cost rather than a partial contribution

Antonyms
  • tax

    the government takes money instead of giving it

  • charge

    to make someone pay full price rather than reducing the cost

Grammar Patterns

subsidise + noun phrase (the thing or group being helped)

Usage Note

Subject is usually a government, institution, or company. The object is typically a service, product, industry, or group that would otherwise be too expensive for the user. Frequently appears in passive compound adjectives such as government-subsidised, state-subsidised, and taxpayer-subsidised.

Common Mistakes

The government subsidises for farmers.
The government subsidises farmers.
subsidise is transitive and takes a direct object without a preposition.
The organisation subsidises to provide cheap housing.
The organisation subsidises housing to keep rents low.
subsidise already means to help pay for something; do not add a redundant to-infinitive explaining the purpose.

Word family

  • subsidy
    nounB2
  • subsidised
    adjectiveB2
  • subsidising
    adjectiveC1
  • subsidisation
    nounC1
  • subsidiser
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four verbs involve providing money, but they differ in scope and completeness. Subsidise specifically means paying part of a cost to keep something affordable — the recipient still pays something. Fund is broader: you can fund a project entirely or in part. Finance often refers to arranging or providing the necessary money for a large purchase or project, sometimes through loans rather than grants. Support is the most general and can include non-financial help such as advice or labour. For example: 'The government subsidises bus tickets so passengers pay less than the full fare,' but 'The company funded the entire research project,' and 'A bank financed the construction of the new factory.'

subsidise ↗fund ↗finance ↗support ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • heavily subsidised
  • partially subsidised
  • fully subsidised
  • publicly subsidised

Phrases

  • at a subsidised rate
  • taxpayer-subsidised programme
  • government-subsidised housing

Etymology

LatinAnglo-FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

From Latin subsidium meaning 'support, assistance, reserve troops,' via Anglo-French subside and Middle English. The modern financial sense — providing monetary support to reduce costs — became common in the 1800s as governments began actively regulating economies.