aftermarket
Americannoun
-
the market for replacement parts, accessories, and equipment for the care or enhancement of the original product, especially an automobile, after its sale to the consumer.
The company holds a large share in the automotive radio aftermarket.
-
any additional market created by a product after the primary market.
Television is the perfect aftermarket for old movies.
-
Stock Exchange. secondary market.
Usage
What does aftermarket mean? An aftermarket is a market for parts, accessories, or equipment used to maintain or improve an existing product, usually relating to machinery, especially automobiles. The aftermarket is a market for goods that can be used to repair, improve, or change a product that was already made on a primary, or standard, market. For example, when you buy a replacement power cable for your laptop from a company other than the computer manufacturer, you’re buying it on the aftermarket. Aftermarket is often paired with parts, as in The aftermarket parts for my car are actually of a better quality than the original parts. In the context of a stock exchange, aftermarket is used to mean a secondary market. The secondary market is the situation where investors buy and sell shares that are already owned. In contrast, the primary market is the situation where a company first sells its shares to investors. Before that, the company was owned privately. National markets like the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ are aftermarkets. Example: Because her new car didn’t come with good-quality speakers, Libby searched the aftermarket for better speakers.
Etymology
Origin of aftermarket
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Founded by Bob James, AerFin has developed from a south Wales business into a global aviation aftermarket specialist.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
Comma.ai, which makes the legal aftermarket device to enable hands-free driving, said the tech works on more than 350 vehicle models dating back to 2014.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
At its Collins Aerospace unit, sales climbed 10% to $8.38 billion, led by a 23% jump in commercial original equipment, a 9% increase in commercial aftermarket, and a 7% rise in defense sales.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
He lays out the problem ahead: the aftermarket.
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
The aftermarket DVD player had initially been a sore spot between her and Jim.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
