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
Recent Examples on the Web
And that might present real problems for Trump, especially when his goals do not align with the conservative movement’s traditional free market views.
—Ian Millhiser, Vox, 12 May 2025
Some of these subsidies could be reduced or eliminated, too, for the free market participants.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 May 2025
Apart from its support for research and development, Washington largely left the free market alone.
—Anne Neuberger, Foreign Affairs, 1 May 2025
Vietnam has moved from war to peace, rural to increasingly urban, poor to roughly middle-class, and explicitly Communist to a complex hybrid of free markets and state control.
—Natasha Frost, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for free market
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Ian Millhiser, Vox, 12 May 2025
Some of these subsidies could be reduced or eliminated, too, for the free market participants.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 May 2025
Apart from its support for research and development, Washington largely left the free market alone.
—Anne Neuberger, Foreign Affairs, 1 May 2025
Vietnam has moved from war to peace, rural to increasingly urban, poor to roughly middle-class, and explicitly Communist to a complex hybrid of free markets and state control.
—Natasha Frost, New York Times, 30 Apr. 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 28 May. 2025.
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