free market

noun

plural free markets

: an economic system in which prices are based on competition among private businesses and are not controlled or regulated by a government : a market (see market entry 1 sense 4d) operating by free competition

… the free market works best when businesses compete to provide the best services …

—Chris Tomlinson

A free market, technically, requires no government intervention, which is why capitalists usually land on the right of the political spectrum. In America, the government regulates businesses for reasons of social welfare and public safety …, so we don't operate in a truly free market.

—Carolyn Twersky

—often hyphenated when used before another noun

free-market competition

free-market principles

One of the basic premises of the free-market system is that actors are free to buy from or sell to a variety of other actors.

—Barry C. Lynn

Examples of free market in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

What American journalism needs is a constructive intervention that strengthens the free market and leaves newsrooms free from the perception of state influence. —Julian Baron, Baltimore Sun, 19 Apr. 2026

Are students better served when schools compete in a free market? —April 19, NPR, 19 Apr. 2026

Americans believe in fairness, free markets, and capitalism, or at least most of us do. —Gail Slater, Rolling Stone, 16 Apr. 2026

But if America maintains her free market principles, ever more people will join the upper-middle class in the decades to come. —Editorial, Boston Herald, 16 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1642, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for free market

• nonmarket
• premarket
• upmarket
• aftermarket
• patriarchate
• supermarket

Kids Definition

free market

noun

: an economic market operating by free competition