Having had government rules and controls removed; describing an industry or market where regulations have been eliminated or greatly reduced.
Past participle of 'deregulate,' formed from 'de-' (to remove) plus 'regulate.' Became prominent in 1970s-1980s economic policy discussions, particularly around airline and telecommunications industries.
When airlines got deregulated in 1978, it created cheap flights but also chaos and shrinking leg room—showing how removing rules can make things cheaper but not necessarily better.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.