Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for captive market. Search instead for inactive market.

captive market

British  

noun

  1. a group of consumers who are obliged through lack of choice to buy a particular product, thus giving the supplier a monopoly

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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:

They have a captive market and they don't want to share it.

From BBC May 5, 2022

But its status as the country’s largest residential mortgage servicer gives it ample opportunity to exploit this captive market.

From Los Angeles Times Nov. 19, 2021

When it comes to Apple, even if you’re paying for the product, you’re still the product: sold to app programmers as a captive market, or gouged on parts and service by official Apple depots.

From Slate Jan. 15, 2020

The company, Consupago, offers loans that are among the most expensive in Mexico to a captive market of government employees.

From New York Times Mar. 27, 2018

Libraries were a captive market, and journals had improbably installed themselves as the gatekeepers of scientific prestige – meaning that scientists couldn’t simply abandon them if a new method of sharing results came along.

From The Guardian Jun. 27, 2017

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training