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
"With the gray market you have no idea if you're getting a good product," Kennedy said in an interview this year with podcast host Joe Rogan.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
This growing gray market has placed Taiwan under pressure to tighten regulatory boundaries, as the island manufactures most of the world’s advanced computing components.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
There are also questions about how people are obtaining the peptides they want in a regulatory gray market.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 15, 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.
