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• black market
  black market

  noun

  the illicit buying and selling of goods in violation of legal price controls, rationing, etc.
• black-market
  black-market

  verb (used without object)

  to black-marketeer.

black market

¹ American  

noun

• black markets
  plural

1. the illicit buying and selling of goods in violation of legal price controls, rationing, etc.

2. a place where such activity is carried on.

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black-market ² American  

[blak-mahr-kit] / ˈblækˈmɑr kɪt /

verb (used without object)

1. to black-marketeer.

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verb (used with object)

1. to sell (something) in the black market.

black market British  

noun

1. 1. any system in which goods or currencies are sold and bought illegally, esp in violation of controls or rationing

   2. ( as modifier )

      black market lamb

2. the place where such a system operates

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verb

1. to sell (goods) on the black market

black market Cultural  

1. The illegal buying and selling of goods above the price fixed by a government. Black markets usually develop when, because of war, disaster, or public policy, a government tries to set prices for commodities instead of allowing the normal operations of supply and demand to set prices.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• black marketeer
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• black markets
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of black market¹

First recorded in 1930–35

Origin of black-market²

First recorded in 1930–35; v. use of black market

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

black market black-market

The black market for irregularly mined gold represents millions of dollars that would have otherwise ended up in the Ivorian state's coffers.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

Even beyond the black market, the glamorization of testosterone often glosses over the primary, life-altering side effect: reduced fertility.

From Slate ● Sep. 13, 2026

Eli Lilly has filed six new lawsuits against U.S. entities that it alleges are selling a version of the company’s investigational weight-loss drug on the black market.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

“What is being sold on the black market is not a medicine — it is entirely unverified, unapproved and not worth the risk,” David Hyman, Lilly’s chief medical officer, said in a news release.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

“I mean, even Twelve had a black market, right?”

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

Yet, a majority voted to permit their production, arguing with a straight face that having “regulated peptides” was somehow better than letting people buy unvetted black-market remedies.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026

Holocaust Memorial Museum describes the program as a coordinated effort to strip communities of cultural identity while redistributing art through state and black-market channels.

From Salon ● May 9, 2026

Supporters argue that legalization decreases black-market activity, reducing consumers’ reliance on shady providers, creating a safer market while providing the government greater tax revenue and citizens greater freedom.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026

Soaring black-market prices of cooking gas in India's capital are pushing poorer families back to wood and coal, raising health risks and worsening air quality in the highly polluted megacity.

From Barron's ● Mar. 24, 2026

I need to look like a black-market dealer, someone rich enough to afford plague cures.

From "Legend" by Marie Lu

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