chaebol
noun
a South Korean conglomerate, usually owned by a single family, based on authoritarian management and centralized decision-making.
chaebols
-
pluralof chaebol.plural
The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
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.
Companies rarely welcome activists, and Korea has historically been especially inhospitable—in part because of the sprawling, family-controlled conglomerates called chaebols that still dominate the market today.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
A year ago, Lee was pledging to eliminate the low valuation multiples attached to Korean stocks owing to decades of mistreatment of minority shareholders by the dominant chaebols.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 25, 2026
The Koo lawsuit is one of several recent legal proceedings involving chaebols that highlight the challenges of family succession and control.
From New York Times ● Dec. 18, 2023
Known as chaebols, they are family-controlled empires which provide a span of services.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2022
South Korean chaebols, Japanese keiretsu, as well as American conglomerates frequently used these cheap funds to prop up their stock or to invest in real estate, driving prices up in both markets artificially.
From Crime and Corruption by Samuel Vaknin
