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

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Etymology

Origin of flea market

First recorded in 1920–25

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Compare meaning

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

• swap meet vs. flea market

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

flea market

Visiting the Pochaina flea market 10 days after the Russian attack, AFP journalists could still smell the mix of burnt metal and plastic hanging in the air.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

“The hardest part of it is going to a flea market, secondhand stores, an estate sale or even just going behind a store to see what people throw away.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026

Sick City Records has several fundraisers and flea market pop-ups planned before the end of the year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2025

She got hers from a flea market, but it has becoming ever easier to buy knockoff furniture and home goods online.

From Barron's ● Nov. 25, 2025

She steadies herself against the whorled bird’s-eye maple console table in our foyer, my parents’ first flea market find as a couple, years before they had me.

From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed

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