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
Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 4 Aug. 2025
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
Auzinea Bacon, CNN Money, 10 Oct. 2025
Sometimes, the black market streamers help make her case.
—Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for black-market
Noun
Food, in his government’s analysis, had become a weapon used by Hamas to sustain its fighters, reward loyalty, and replenish its armaments through black-market profiteering.
—Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 4 Aug. 2025
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
Verb
China could also gain access to the chips on the black market, since another country could buy Nvidia’s chips and resell them to China, Sundararajan said.
—Auzinea Bacon, CNN Money, 10 Oct. 2025
Sometimes, the black market streamers help make her case.
—Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for black-market
Recent Examples of Synonyms for black-market
Noun
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Jerry Jones said the Micah Parsons trade was made with the purpose of capturing a sustainably winning team in Prescott’s prime.—
Lawrence Dow,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
21 Oct. 2025
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If the Astros pursue someone via trade, Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report believes Mitch Keller would be a viable option.—
Drew VonScio,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The doctors used equipment that had been smuggled into the Ghetto to measure capillary circulation, examine bone marrow under microscopes, and record electrocardiograms.—
Clayton Dalton,
New Yorker,
18 Oct. 2025
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Once filmmakers completed the 28-day shoot, a rough cut was smuggled out of Iran.—
Hugh Hart,
IndieWire,
17 Oct. 2025
Noun
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To this end, Cucinelli urged the independent players to tap into the online commerce without betraying their identity of exclusivity and desirability, subtly reprimanding those who embraced the gray market outright.—
Martino Carrera,
Footwear News,
15 Oct. 2025
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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
Verb
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Without data centers, flights would be grounded (pilots could not get weather info and flight plans would not be available), communication would become rudimentary, payments would stop processing (welcome back, bartering) — even 911, which goes through an online system, would shut down.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
8 Oct. 2025
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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
Noun
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Set to launch later this year, Riyadh Air will debut a 28-seat business-class cabin in a palette of indigo, lavender, mocha golds, and stone accents—its aesthetic loosely inspired by a Bedouin tent.—
Chris Dong,
Robb Report,
18 Oct. 2025
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Despite her many titles, from entrepreneur to author to working mom, DesRochers has built her businesses around a human-first mentality.—
Grace Tucker,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
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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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DraftKings, which has lost roughly $5 billion in market cap over the last few weeks due to the growth of prediction exchanges, is planning to launch its own futures marketplace in the coming months.—
Eben Novy-Williams,
Sportico.com,
21 Oct. 2025
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Amazon connects its users with third-party merchants on its marketplace.—
NPR,
NPR,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The comments came as Israel and Hamas exchanged the bodies of captives, a key demand of the truce.—
Prashant Rao,
semafor.com,
22 Oct. 2025
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For their part, Max and Christian fight before docking and exchange some F-bombs on the bow just for good measure.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
21 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Black-market.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/black-market. Accessed 24 Oct. 2025.
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