private sector

See more synonyms for private sector on Thesaurus.com

noun

the area of the nation's economy under private rather than governmental control.

Compare public sector.

Origin of private sector

First recorded in 1950–55

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for private sector

capitalism

Examples from the Web for private sector

Contemporary Examples of private sector

Ironically, the private-sector unions have also suffered politically from the sins of the public sector.
Why Progressives Shouldn’t Support Public Workers Unions
Dmitri Mehlhorn
July 11, 2014
Public-sector unions grew rapidly, but private-sector unions shrank.
Why Progressives Shouldn’t Support Public Workers Unions
Dmitri Mehlhorn
July 11, 2014
But that cannot happen when private-sector workers experience guilt-by-association with unpopular public-sector union actions.
Why Progressives Shouldn’t Support Public Workers Unions
Dmitri Mehlhorn
July 11, 2014
In May 2013, the first private-sector green bond was issued by PNE Wind, a German company that builds and runs wind farms.
The Bond Market Goes Green
The Daily Beast
May 27, 2014
A few million people is a lot of people, but there are 150 million other Americans with private-sector insurance.
It’s Time for Obama to Go on Offense on Health Care
Michael Tomasky
November 19, 2013

British Dictionary definitions for private sector

private sector

noun

the part of a country's economy that consists of privately owned enterprisesCompare public sector

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

private sector in Culture

private sector

That part of an economy in which goods and services are produced by individuals and companies as opposed to the government, which controls the public sector.