as in trade
a system through which things are bought and sold illegally
The black market in prescription drugs is thriving. They unloaded the stolen goods on the black market.
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as in to smuggle
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of black-market
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
David Goldman, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2025
Amid textile shortages, Japanese veterans continued wearing threadbare flight suits, and families found clothes by scouring the black market.
—Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for black-market
Noun
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
Verb
And China is highly likely to be gaining access to the chips on the black market, anyway.
—David Goldman, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2025
Amid textile shortages, Japanese veterans continued wearing threadbare flight suits, and families found clothes by scouring the black market.
—Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for black-market
Recent Examples of Synonyms for black-market
Noun
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His suggestion comes on the heels of a report from longtime NFL insider Ian Rapoport, who reported that teams around the NFL are monitoring Woolen as a potential trade candidate this year.—
Evan Massey,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
-
Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio.—
Morgan Chittum,
CNBC,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Some people inside Afghanistan managed to get messages out via Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet network – and as the days wore on, desperate families had talked about trying to smuggle in more Starlink units, Solaimankhil said.—
Hilary Whiteman,
CNN Money,
3 Oct. 2025
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After escaping prison in New Jersey in November 1979, Shakur lived in hiding for several years before being smuggled to Cuba, where Fidel Castro’s government granted her asylum in 1984.—
Essence,
Essence,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
This loophole fueled a $28 billion gray market, which states are now slowly dismantling—though some have already moved to regulate the industry.—
Dario Sabaghi,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
-
New research is shedding light on the inner workings of the multimillion-dollar gray market for video game cheats.—
Lily Hay Newman,
Wired News,
16 Aug. 2025
Verb
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For weeks leading up to the election, judges barter for their votes with candidates and make deals for which court system, division and courthouse they will be assigned to, and power players jockey for the supervisory placements, or presiding judge positions, by promising a bloc of loyal votes.—
Paul Vallas,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Aug. 2025
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Riz Ahmed’s Ash is the relay mastermind who will barter the deal, keep Sarah alive from reprisals and handle the sizable cash payment.—
Stephen Schaefer,
Boston Herald,
20 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
CEOs and global leaders will gather for a dynamic, invitation-only event shaping the future of business.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
5 Oct. 2025
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Goad joined The Tennessean in 2016 as the business and entertainment editor and has been critical to the company’s digital growth, leading a dramatic expansion of music and entertainment coverage while elevating its enterprise business reporting.—
Nashville Tennessean,
Nashville Tennessean,
5 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The fact we’re getting bootlegged and people are grabbing our voices and using ’em, rap needs to be taken as serious as any other genre!—
Mackenzie Cummings-Grady,
Billboard,
11 July 2025
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In 1920s Anaheim, the big local issue was bootlegging and Catholics, who were seen as foreigners in what was supposed to be an Anglo-Saxon Protestant country.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The assistance, which significantly lowered premiums for people purchasing insurance through federal or state marketplaces, is set to expire at the end of this year.—
Nik Popli,
Time,
1 Oct. 2025
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More than 24 million people buy their own marketplace insurance and most use the credits to afford their monthly healthcare premiums, according to health policy research group KFF.—
Michel Martin,
NPR,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Since the African Growth and Opportunity Act was implemented in 2000, sub-Saharan African nations have exchanged goods duty-free with the US, boosting trans-Atlantic trade.—
Jeronimo Gonzalez,
semafor.com,
30 Sep. 2025
-
That calmness, however, was soon overtaken by the kitchen, with the hiss of the pans, stir of the pots and sharp calls exchanged between cooks quickly filling the air, along with the sounds of an upbeat Peruvian song playing in the background.—
Evan Moore,
Charlotte Observer,
30 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Black-market.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/black-market. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.
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