cartel

American  

[kahr-tel] / kɑrˈtɛl /

noun

cartels plural

1. an international syndicate, combine, or trust formed especially to regulate prices and output in some field of business.

   Synonyms:

   combination, merger, monopoly

2. a coalition of political or special-interest groups having a common cause, as to encourage the passage of a certain law.

3. a written agreement between belligerents, especially for the exchange of prisoners.

4. a written challenge to a duel.

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cartel British  

/ kɑːˈtɛl /

noun

1. Also called: trust.  a collusive international association of independent enterprises formed to monopolize production and distribution of a product or service, control prices, etc

2. politics an alliance of parties or interests to further common aims

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cartel Cultural  

1. An association in which producers of a similar or identical product try to obtain a monopoly over the sale of the product.

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Discover More

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a cartel.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cartelism
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cartels
  plural

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.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cartel cartels

"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

To boot, prosecutors said, the captain also “reported receiving what he believed were radio calls from the cartel attempting to hail the Aquatravesia prior to a boarding or takeover.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

The fifth consecutive increase comes as the cartel continues to unwind production cuts introduced in recent years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 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

Right before their eyes he had transformed his syndicate into an international cartel.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

The Mexican government, too, has taken more aggressive steps against the cartels and sent thousands of troops to Sinaloa.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 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

Much of the world still thinks of Latin American organized crime in terms of cut-throat cocaine cartels and cavalier capos like Pablo Escobar.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

Globalization is giving way to geopolitical power cartels and a structural shift toward domestic, state-subsidized industries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026

A high protective tariff enables these cartels to maintain a remunerative price in the home market while dumping their surplus products upon foreign markets.

From American World Policies by Weyl, Walter E.

Related Words

• conglomerate
• consortium
• corporation
• gang
• holding company
• mob
• monopoly
• ring
• syndicate