black-market

1 of 2

verb

black-mar·​ket ˈblak-ˈmär-kət 

black-marketed; black-marketing; black-markets

intransitive verb

: to buy or sell goods in the black market

transitive verb

: to sell in the black market

black marketer noun

or black marketeer

ˈblak-ˌmär-kə-ˈtir 

black marketeering

ˈblak-ˌmär-kə-ˈtir-iŋ 

noun

black market

2 of 2

noun

: illicit trade in goods or commodities in violation of official regulations

also : a place where such trade is carried on

Examples of black-market in a Sentence

Noun

The black market in prescription drugs is thriving.

They unloaded the stolen goods on the black market.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Two brothers were found guilty on Wednesday of buying tens of millions of dollars worth of black-market HIV drugs and reselling them to numerous pharmacies, including two in Miami Beach. —Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 30 Oct. 2025

Superfakes follows a small-time Chinatown luxury counterfeit dealer who enters a dangerous black-market underworld to fund a life of suburban respectability for her family. —Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 27 Oct. 2025

Noun

Vaquitas continued to be caught and unintentionally killed when fishers used these nets to target totoaba fish for their swim bladder—the part of a fish that regulates buoyancy—for sale in Chinese black markets. —Ryan Green, Scientific American, 6 Nov. 2025

When criminal networks adapted and began selling those elements on the black market, China worked to thwart those exports, too. —David Goldman, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

1727, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Noun

1931, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for black-market

• nonmarket
• premarket
• upmarket
• aftermarket
• patriarchate
• supermarket
• market

Kids Definition

black market

noun

: trade that is against government controls (as of prices or rationing)

also : the place where such trade is carried on

black marketer

-ˈmär-kət-ər

noun

or black marketeer

-ˌmär-kə-ˈti(ə)r