cartel
Americannoun
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cartels
plural
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an international syndicate, combine, or trust formed especially to regulate prices and output in some field of business.
- Synonyms:
- combination, merger, monopoly
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a coalition of political or special-interest groups having a common cause, as to encourage the passage of a certain law.
-
a written agreement between belligerents, especially for the exchange of prisoners.
-
a written challenge to a duel.
noun
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Also called: trust. a collusive international association of independent enterprises formed to monopolize production and distribution of a product or service, control prices, etc
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politics an alliance of parties or interests to further common aims
Discover More
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a cartel.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of cartel
1550–60; < Middle French < Italian cartello letter of defiance, poster, equivalent to cart ( a ) carte + -ello diminutive suffix
Explanation
When groups band together to control the supply of a product for their best interests, that’s called a cartel. If you and the other kids running lemonade stands form a cartel, you can force up the price of lemonade. The word cartel originally referred to political parties that joined forces to promote a common cause. Over the years, cartel took on a decidedly negative connotation, and now it’s more likely to describe organizations that join together to limit supply of a product to force prices to remain high. You might read about an international drug cartel or a cartel of natural gas producers. To correctly pronounce the word cartel, put the accent on the second syllable: “car TEL.”
Vocabulary lists containing cartel
Mexico - High School
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South America - High School
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This Week In Words: March 21–27, 2020
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The European Commission provisionally found that 10 construction chemical groups and three trade bodies operated a cartel to raise prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
"At no stage was I aware that he was a member of any cartel or that he was a subject of any criminal investigation," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Iraq, in particular, has asked the cartel to raise production quotas to make up for the shortfall it incurred during the war in the Middle East, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said in late June.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
The ghost of Vice still lingers in today’s media ecosystem in what he called our “era of cartel journalism:” creators navigating a world of blurred incentives and corporate interests.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Right before their eyes he had transformed his syndicate into an international cartel.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Two days later, the US designated Brazil's two largest drug cartels as terrorist organizations -- which Flavio has said was a personal request.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
In its statement, DHS denied HSI has neglected its core mission, saying the agency has increased its efforts to combat criminal cartels, gangs and drug traffickers in response to multiple Trump executive orders.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
The visa revocation comes soon after senior U.S. officials described Mexico as a country controlled by drug traffickers and vowed to pursue Mexican officials who collude with the nation’s powerful cartels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
The executive order is part of the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle Mexican drug cartels that includes the Jalisco New Genertion Cartel and the Beltran Leyva Organization.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
We both have trusts or cartels, and both manufacture huge quantities of cheap, standardised products.
From American World Policies by Walter E. Weyl
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
