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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

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

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

Whether it's leather that's pre-cut in China or stitching that's done in Vietnam, these materials and expertise are almost certainly channelled into the region's black market.

From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026

Strikes on fuel and power infrastructure have cut electricity in parts of Crimea, strained water supplies and pushed residents to the black market for gasoline.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

California’s Assembly Bill 1127 does not explicitly name the Glock brand, but instead targets any handgun with a specific mechanism that can easily be converted by a black market device.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

Because the candles were nearly impossible to find even on the black market, she blew them out immediately after the prayers.

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

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

The rial was depreciating again on Monday against the greenback after strengthening in recent days, according to the informal black-market rate, which stands at around 1.4 million rials, compared with about 770,000 a year earlier.

From Barron's ● Jan. 5, 2026

But evidence in three London house-share hotspots we examined suggests that in some places there are more unlicensed, black-market HMOs than there are legal ones.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2025

Colonel Korn was the lawyer, and if Colonel Korn assured him that fraud, extortion, currency manipulation, embezzlement, income tax evasion and black-market speculations were legal, Colonel Cathcart was in no position to disagree with him.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller