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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

Etymology

Origin of black market¹

First recorded in 1930–35

Origin of black-market²

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

black market black-market

“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

What used to be sold on the black market to China or held in storage now makes it to the Gulf Coast, Europe or India.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

The tax cut also hasn’t snuffed out the black market, as evidenced by the Governor’s press release this week.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

She added that stakeholders had expressed concerns that more regulation could push problem gamblers onto the black market.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

Sometimes food was available on the black market, but one had to have something to exchange.

From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson

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

Nearly all of the country’s paltry output in recent years had ultimately flowed there in largely black-market purchases, at a steep discount to global prices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 24, 2026

Prices in Venezuela are set in dollars, but many people pay with the weak bolivar -- taking advantage of the difference between the official and black-market exchange rate to pay less in real dollar value.

From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026

We began investigating - and found a widespread black-market rental sector where people are forced to live in unsafe spaces.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2025

A black-market economy rose up, with every type of business being run out of someone’s house: auto mechanics, day care, guys selling refurbished tires.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah