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

In the 1960s, amid an international wave of conservation concern and critical population estimates falling into the thousands, researchers and biologists sounded the alarm on the impending collapse of the vicuña from black-market wool hunters. —David Nolan, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 July 2025

Cracking down on pain prescriptions has driven those suffering unbearable pain to dangerous black-market drugs. —The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 6 July 2025

Noun

Nana Poku, who heads the Traders Advocacy Group Ghana trade union, said dollars are available on the black market but the high cost would be passed on to customers. —Nana Oye Ankrah, semafor.com, 21 July 2025

Neither did negotiations of any kind bring an end to the nuclear black market run by the Pakistani engineer, Abdul Qadeer Khan, which operated from the mid-1980s until 2003. —Scott Montgomery, Forbes.com, 10 July 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