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
Chris TomlinsonA 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 nounCarolyn Twerskyfree-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
Barry C. LynnExamples of free market in a Sentence
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What’s surprising is the utter disregard — willfully or naively — for blatant flaws in the communist worldview, where Big Government controls our destiny at the expense of a free market that made New York prosperous and appealing to college graduates in the first place.
—Luka Ladan, New York Daily News, 5 July 2025
Yet, the administration has shunned free market principles pretty much everywhere else, from trade policy to corporate acquisitions.
—Norbert Michel, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025
Because of this free market dynamic, the cost to fly has fallen by roughly half over the past four decades and nearly 9 in 10 Americans have flown in their lifetimes.
—Jackson Shedelbower, Oc Register, 17 June 2025
Those are all contrary to the very free market freedom policies that binds all Republicans together.
—Emily Brooks, The Hill, 10 June 2025
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Luka Ladan, New York Daily News, 5 July 2025
Yet, the administration has shunned free market principles pretty much everywhere else, from trade policy to corporate acquisitions.
—Norbert Michel, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025
Because of this free market dynamic, the cost to fly has fallen by roughly half over the past four decades and nearly 9 in 10 Americans have flown in their lifetimes.
—Jackson Shedelbower, Oc Register, 17 June 2025
Those are all contrary to the very free market freedom policies that binds all Republicans together.
—Emily Brooks, The Hill, 10 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for free market
Cite this Entry
“Free market.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/free%20market. Accessed 10 Jul. 2025.
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