black market
noun
the illicit buying and selling of goods in violation of legal price controls, rationing, etc.
black markets
-
pluralof black market.plural
The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
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.
This large fish is targeted because its swim bladder commands high prices on international black markets.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 17, 2026
North Korea’s pre-Covid economy had increasingly centered on black markets selling goods smuggled from China or under-the-table local goods—and with it the rise of a “donju” merchant class who made their wealth outside state control.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
Contracts are unenforceable and production leaks into black markets.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 8, 2026
But monitors say the conflict has supercharged black markets -- with a weak central government, industrial infrastructure destroyed by fighting, and soaring poverty spiking desperation.
From Barron's ● Dec. 3, 2025
Everybody did it—that’s why the black markets had wheat and rice for sale.
From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata
