oligopoly
noun
ol·i·gop·o·ly
ˌä-lə-ˈgä-pə-lē 
ˌō-
: a market situation in which each of a few producers affects but does not control the market
Examples of oligopoly in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The oligopoly asks only that no one interfere with corporate imperatives.
—
Matthew Jordan, The Conversation, 1 Feb. 2024
Apple is far from alone in the practice of expansion via acquisition or emulation; the story of consumer technology in the 21st century is largely the story of a handful of tech giants becoming monopolies and oligopolies by buying up, absorbing, or cloning the competition.
—Brian Merchant, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2023
Ng taught OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman at Stanford and hinted his former student may be trying to consolidate an oligopoly of powerful tech companies controlling AI.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune, 1 Nov. 2023
Indeed, monopoly and oligopoly can be very pro-worker under the right circumstances.
—Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 3 Oct. 2023
Zelenskyy’s pitch was a new kind of politics: consensual, based on listening to the people and taking advice from experts, and decoupled from the oligopolies that corrupted administrations and slowed economic and social progress.
—WIRED, 25 July 2023
And the unchanging ranks at the top of the industry suggest an oligopoly.
—Rakesh Kumar, Fortune, 13 June 2023
The Parler situation, however, opens a new front in the online speech wars, as the debate over moderation migrates from an oligopoly of social media platforms to the oligopoly of companies that make those platforms available to the public.
—Gilad Edelman, Wired, 13 Jan. 2021
Many car dealerships are now very wealthy corporate behemoths and the Big Three are no longer an oligopoly with the market to themselves.
—Peter Weber, The Week, 21 June 2023
Matthew Jordan, The Conversation, 1 Feb. 2024
Apple is far from alone in the practice of expansion via acquisition or emulation; the story of consumer technology in the 21st century is largely the story of a handful of tech giants becoming monopolies and oligopolies by buying up, absorbing, or cloning the competition.
—Brian Merchant, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2023
Ng taught OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman at Stanford and hinted his former student may be trying to consolidate an oligopoly of powerful tech companies controlling AI.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune, 1 Nov. 2023
Indeed, monopoly and oligopoly can be very pro-worker under the right circumstances.
—Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 3 Oct. 2023
Zelenskyy’s pitch was a new kind of politics: consensual, based on listening to the people and taking advice from experts, and decoupled from the oligopolies that corrupted administrations and slowed economic and social progress.
—WIRED, 25 July 2023
And the unchanging ranks at the top of the industry suggest an oligopoly.
—Rakesh Kumar, Fortune, 13 June 2023
The Parler situation, however, opens a new front in the online speech wars, as the debate over moderation migrates from an oligopoly of social media platforms to the oligopoly of companies that make those platforms available to the public.
—Gilad Edelman, Wired, 13 Jan. 2021
Many car dealerships are now very wealthy corporate behemoths and the Big Three are no longer an oligopoly with the market to themselves.
—Peter Weber, The Week, 21 June 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'oligopoly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near oligopoly
Cite this Entry
“Oligopoly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oligopoly. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
oligopoly
noun
ol·i·gop·o·ly
ˌä-li-ˈgä-pə-lē, ˌō-
plural oligopolies
: a condition in which a few sellers dominate a particular market to the detriment of competition by others
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