flea market

American  

noun

flea markets plural

1. a market, often outdoors, consisting of a number of individual stalls selling old or used articles, curios and antiques, cut-rate merchandise, etc.

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flea market British  

noun

1. an open-air market selling cheap and often second-hand goods

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flea market Idioms  

1. A market, usually held outdoors, where used goods and antiques are sold. For example, We picked up half of our furniture at flea markets. The term is a direct translation of the French marché aux puces and presumably implies that some of the used clothes and furniture might be flea-infested. [1920s]

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• flea-marketeer
  noun
• flea-marketer
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• flea markets
  plural

Etymology

Origin of flea market

First recorded in 1920–25

Compare meaning

How does flea-market compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• swap meet vs. flea market

Example Sentences

Globally, EVs already make up 15% of new-car sales and are expected to form nearly a quarter of the global market by 2030, according to AlixPartners.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 5, 2026

This week, Brian Levitt, Invesco’s chief global market strategist, on the outlook for interest rates and inflation.

From Barron's • Jun. 26, 2026

That also means it’s able to “control the global market to a certain degree,” as long as it can get its oil to market.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 25, 2026

“Semiconductors are structurally more volatile and cyclical than the hyperscalers that carried markets through the last hiking cycle,” said New York Life Investment Management global market strategist Julia Hermann.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 23, 2026

WTO membership has provided Vietnam an anchor to the global market and reinforced the domestic economic reform process.

From The 2008 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency