monopoly

/məˈnɒpəli/

//məˈnɒpəli// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"monopoly" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“monopoly” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,070. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,070
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A situation, by legal privilege or other agreement, in which solely one party (company, cartel etc.) exclusively provides a particular product or service, dominating that market and generally exert...

Corpus desk

Index EN-monopoly · monopoly · English

monopoly · rank #9,070 · 12 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,070
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH ML

Nearest frequency peer: ML (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “monopoly”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “monopoly” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

monopoly vs monotony
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for monopoly
PropertyValue
Headwordmonopoly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/məˈnɒpəli/
Letters8
Frequency rank#9,070
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “monopoly”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).monopolylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “ML” (#9,069), “Nash” (#9,071), “Miranda” (#9,068). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “monopoly” is #9,070. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around monopoly (IPA /məˈnɒpəli/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #9,070 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for monopoly, with forms such as "mmonopoly", "mnoopoly", and "monnopoly". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "monotony", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin monopōlium, from Ancient Greek μονοπώλιον (monopṓlion, “a right of exclusive sale”), from μόνος (mónos, “sole”) + πωλέω (pōléō, “I barter, sell”). By surface analysis, mono- + -poly. The correct English form is monopoly, spelled M-O-N-O-P-O-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A situation, by legal privilege or other agreement, in which solely one party (company, cartel etc.) exclusively provides a particular product or service, dominating that market and generally exerting powerful control over it.
  2. 2
    An exclusive control over the trade or production of a commodity or service through exclusive possession.
  3. 3
    The privilege granting the exclusive right to exert such control.
  4. 4
    The market thus controlled.
  5. 5
    The holder (person, company or other) of such market domination in one of the above manners.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how monopoly appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The sale of the leaves and roots was a Government monopoly, and from it the Kings of Kôr derived a large proportion of their private revenue.
  2. In 1918 a Chinese company was given a monopoly to run a service between Victoria and the districts of Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po. Five years later this monopoly was transferred to the Hong Kong and Yaumati Ferry Company, together with the right to run a service to Yau Ma Tei.

Etymology

From Latin monopōlium, from Ancient Greek μονοπώλιον (monopṓlion, “a right of exclusive sale”), from μόνος (mónos, “sole”) + πωλέω (pōléō, “I barter, sell”). By surface analysis, mono- + -poly.

This word in other languages

monopolio(Español)monopole(Français)Monopol(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • mmonopoly
  • mnoopoly
  • monnopoly
  • monooply
  • monoploy
  • monopolly
  • monopolyy
  • monopoyl
  • monoppoly
  • monpooly
  • moonpoly
  • omnopoly

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of monopoly - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

mmonopoly1mnoopoly2monnopoly1monooply2monoploy2monopolly1monopolyy1monopoyl2
Edit distance from "monopoly"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "monopoly"?
"monopoly" is spelled M-O-N-O-P-O-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /məˈnɒpəli/.
What does "monopoly" mean?
As a noun, "monopoly" means: A situation, by legal privilege or other agreement, in which solely one party (company, cartel etc.) exclusively provides a particular product or service, dominating that market and generally exert...
What words are commonly confused with "monopoly"?
"monopoly" is commonly confused with "monotony". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "monopoly"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "monopoly" is /məˈnɒpəli/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "monopoly"?
From Latin monopōlium, from Ancient Greek μονοπώλιον (monopṓlion, “a right of exclusive sale”), from μόνος (mónos, “sole”) + πωλέω (pōléō, “I barter, sell”). By surface analysis, mono- + -poly. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "monopoly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

promptly#9,083grounded#9,050genetics#9,047steadily#9,104

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

Louisville12 variantsdisclose12 variantsweighing12 variantsvolleyball12 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list