noun · academic
monopoly
UK/məˈnɒpəli/US/məˈnɑːpəli/mo·NOP·o·ly
Band 7+speakingtask2
exclusive control of a market by a single firm or organization
Examples
“Governments may break up monopolies to promote competition.”
“A natural monopoly can occur in utilities like water supply.”
“When a firm has a monopoly, it can set prices without competitive pressure.”
Band 8 sentence
“Regulators must weigh the benefits of economies of scale against the dangers of monopoly power when assessing mergers.”
Collocations
- break up a monopoly
- monopoly power
- natural monopoly
Word family
monopolize verbmonopolistic adjective
Common mistakes
dominate→monopoly
Say it for a higher band
5control→6dominate→7+monopoly
Synonyms
exclusive control
Easily confused
oligopoly
“The smartphone market is often described as an oligopoly dominated by a few major firms.”
Related words
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In Shopping & Money
Learn it with its set