antitrust
an-tee-TRUST
/ˌæntiˈtrʌst/
Preventing or opposing business monopolies and anti-competitive commercial practices.
Refers specifically to competition laws aimed at preserving market fairness, not personal emotional trust.
The story behind the word. In late 19th-century America, giant industrial empires pooled corporate stock into legal arrangements called 'trusts' to suppress competition. When Congress passed legislation in 1890 to dismantle these cartels, the word 'antitrust' entered the legal lexicon.
Word relationships
- anti-monopoly: Plain English description of policies designed to break up dominant corporate monopolies.
- monopolistic: Describing practices that consolidate market power into a single entity.
Commonly confused with
- distrust: Distrust is an emotional suspicion; antitrust is a formal legal framework regulating competition.
Word family
- trust (noun): An anti-competitive combination of commercial firms.
Collocations
- antitrust law
- antitrust investigation
- antitrust violation
Idioms & expressions
- trust busting
Example sentences
- "The Sherman Antitrust Act was the first major statute passed by Congress to address monopolistic business practices." Legal history
- "Regulators launched an antitrust investigation to determine whether the tech firm engaged in anti-competitive pricing." Modern Tech Regulation
Memory hook
ANTI against cartels and monopolistic TRUSTS. Fighting business monopolies.
When not to use
Do not use to describe interpersonal suspicion or personal emotional distrust.
Fun facts
- The 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act was named after Senator John Sherman, brother of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman.
Related words
Explore more words
monopolize, monopoly, antagonism, deregulation, regulation, trustworthy
Also appears in
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