Meanings
- derogatoryuncountableThe increased homogeneity of an area as a result of big business, to the detriment of local character and diversity.
In what might be seen as a move to promote salon-style discussions or a result of society's Starbucksification, a self-serve, push-button cappuccino, latte, and espresso machine came fall quarter to the Bartlett Dining Commons.
2004, The University of Chicago Magazine, volume 97, page 182 more examples
It leads to chainstores swallowing up individual enterprises; it leads to the phenomenon, recently labelled 'clone towns' in the UK, whereby every high street looks pretty much like every other high street. It leads to the Starbucksification of the world […]
2007, Tom Hodgkinson, How To Be FreeThe billboards were placed by an informal coalition of independent Louisville businesses – a protest against 'Starbucksification', sparked by the sale of Hawley-Cooke, Louisville's largest independent bookstore, to Borders in August 2003.
2012, Charles Landry, The Art of City Making, page 127
Origin
- Old Norsestor
- Old Norsebekkr
- EnglishStarbeck
- EnglishStarbuck
- EnglishStarbucks
- EnglishStarbucksification
From Starbucks + -ification, named after the American coffee company and coffeehouse chain.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Starbucksification. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Starbucksification
“Starbucksification.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Starbucksification. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Starbucksification,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Starbucksification.
Source: Starbucksification on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.