Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

free market

noun

Definition of free market

: an economy operating by free competition

Examples of free market in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

 With no competition, a monopoly firm will reduce output below the level that would prevail in a free market and can sell it for a high price. — Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, "Real World Economics: Playing monopoly is more than just rolling the dice," 16 June 2019 Republicans believe in the free market, while Democrats favor government intervention in the economy. — Eric Levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump Is Preparing to Prop Up Unprofitable Coal Plants With ‘Emergency’ Subsidies," 1 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'free market.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

See More

First Known Use of free market

1642, in the meaning defined above

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about free market

Dictionary Entries near free market

freely

freeman

Freeman

free market

free marketeer

freemartin

Freemason

Statistics for free market

Last Updated

22 Aug 2019

Look-up Popularity

Bottom 40% of words

Time Traveler for free market

The first known use of free market was in 1642

See more words from the same year

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for free market

free market

noun

English Language Learners Definition of free market

: an economic market or system in which prices are based on competition among private businesses and not controlled by a government

See the full definition for free market in the English Language Learners Dictionary

More from Merriam-Webster on free market

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with free market

Comments on free market

What made you want to look up free market? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

Show Comments  Hide Comments 

WORD OF THE DAY

fecund

Listen to the pronounciation of fecund

fruitful in offspring or vegetation

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

Back to School Quiz

  • a cat teaching the pronunciation of meow to a classroom of kittens using ipa style rather than mw style because the cat uses our learners dictionary rather than the collegiate
  • Which of the following is considered a plural form of syllabus?
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

TAKE THE QUIZ
Add Diction

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
×

You're never
too cool to learn something new.

Sign up for our Word of the Day
daily newsletter!

No thanks, maybe later.