gray market
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of gray market
First recorded in 1930–35; gray 1 ( def. ) (in the sense “indeterminate or intermediate in character” + market ( )
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.
“Patients are looking for alternatives, and they are looking not at physicians. They’re looking at this gray market source.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Telehealth companies Hims & Hers were among those urging the panel to allow compounding the peptides, arguing that further restricting them will only drive Americans further into the gray market.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
There are also questions about how people are obtaining the peptides they want in a regulatory gray market.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 15, 2026
The demand has given rise to a burgeoning gray market, where wellness spas, multilevel marketers and telehealth websites ply the public with vials of “research grade” peptides labeled “not for human use.”
From Salon ● Apr. 4, 2026
There were also dark secrets people didn’t much talk about, along with a gray market of gossip that could spread the ill-informed rumor as fast as any IM or text network.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
