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

oligopolist

ˌä-lə-ˈgä-pə-list 

ˌō-

noun

oligopolistic

ˌä-lə-ˌgä-pə-ˈli-stik 

ˌō-

adjective

Examples of oligopoly in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For the past three decades, defense procurement was a stagnant oligopoly dominated by a handful of massive legacy prime contractors and painfully slow cost-plus research-and-development cycles. — Harvey Stober, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2026

The biggest hurdle for this nascent market is that compute is an oligopoly and the oligopolists are doing just fine. — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 26 May 2026

Without competition, market power persists as either a monopoly (control by one firm) or an oligopoly (control by a few). — Mordecai Kurz, Time, 20 Apr. 2026

Golf manufacturing is essentially a four-company oligopoly built on pouring money into research and development with the hopes of finding the next big thing. — Brody Miller, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

olig- + -poly (as in monopoly)

First Known Use

1895, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for oligopoly

• trichinopoly
• antimonopoly
• monopoly

Legal 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