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to spoil the market

to spoil the market

5.8
Make a market worse by lowering prices or selling low-quality goods
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : estropear el mercado
  • The influx of counterfeit products has spoiled the market for genuine brands.

Examples

  • When suppliers flood the market with cheap goods, they spoil the market for quality producers.

  • Unfair pricing strategies can spoil the market for honest retailers.

  • And then Kong had to spoil the market.

    Blog text (16)

Synonyms

to spoil
vsto spoil the market
80 2.8

To make something less good or enjoyable

is specific to harming trade function and credibility rather than general damage
to dump
vsto spoil the market
  • Specialized
74 6.7

To sell goods at very low prices to beat competitors

causes overall trade damage by lowering credibility and value rather than just price attacks
to cheapen
vsto spoil the market
20 4.3

To make something seem less valuable, often by lowering its price or quality

focuses on harming the trade environment and reputation beyond simple devaluation
to saturate the market
vsto spoil the market
1 5.3

To sell so many of a product that people stop buying more unless prices fall

also harms seller credibility and product value rather than only flooding supply
to undersell
vsto spoil the market
1 4.7

Sell goods or services at a lower price than a competitor

involves damaging trade conditions or credibility rather than only price differences

Antonyms

753 1.4

Give money or other help so a person can live and study

424 4.0

Make something better or more attractive

Surface Forms

spoil the market infinitive
spoiled the market past participle
spoiling the market present participle
spoils the market third person singular

Morphology

spoil + the + market

The meaning 'to harm normal market conditions' is directly derivable from combining 'spoil' (to damage) with 'market' (commerce); this is a straightforward verb + noun compositional pattern. The determiner 'the' is semantically light and does not obscure meaning, and similar constructions exist cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner knowing the constituents should understand it.

Etymology

The phrase spoil the market likely comes from open-air sellers whose bad or rotten goods would spoil on their stalls and make customers avoid the whole market. So, it now means 'to harm market conditions or lower the value'.