Phrase guide

black market

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing, or price controls.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The people who engage in such trade, or that sector of the economy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: collective

Examples

  • associational black market

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

an illegal market in which goods or currencies are bought and sold in violation of rationing or controls

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: market, marketplace, market place

4

noun

Meaning 4

people who engage in illicit trade

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: market

5

verb

Meaning 5

deal in illegally, such as arms or liquor

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: run

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: trade, merchandise

History

Etymology

Ca. 1930, probably a calque of German Schwarzmarkt, which is attested from the 1910s. Compare Schwärzer (“smuggler”, 18th c.).

Across languages

Translations

107 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: swartmark — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Albanian: treg i zi — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Albanian: tregu i zi — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Amharic: ጥቁር ገበያ (ṭəḳur gäbäya) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Arabic: سُوق سَوْدَاء (sūq sawdāʔ) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Armenian: սեւ շուկա (sew šuka) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Assamese: চোৰাং বজাৰ (süraṅ bozar) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Azerbaijani: qara bazar — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Basque: merkatu beltz — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Belarusian: чо́рны ры́нак (čórny rýnak) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Bengali: কালোবাজার (kalōbajar) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Bulgarian: че́рен паза́р (čéren pazár) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Bulgarian: черна борса (černa borsa) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Burmese: မှောင်ခိုဈေး (hmaunghkuijhe:) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Carpathian Rusyn: чо́рный торг (čórnŷj torh) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Catalan: mercat negre — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Chinese Cantonese: 黑市 (hak1 si5) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Chinese: 烏市 /乌市 (zh-min-nan) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Chinese Mandarin: 黑市 (hēishì) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Czech: černý trh — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Danish: sort marked — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Danish: sortbørs — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Danish: sortbørshandel — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Dutch: zwarte markt — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Esperanto: nigra merkato — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Estonian: varimajandus — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Finnish: musta pörssi — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Finnish: harmaa talous — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • French: marché noir — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • French: économie souterraine — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Galician: mercado negro — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Georgian: შავი მარკეტი (šavi marḳeṭi) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • German: Schwarzmarkt — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Greek: μαύρη αγορά (mávri agorá) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Gujarati: કાળીબજાર (kāḷībjār) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Hausa: kasuwar shunku — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Hebrew: שוק שחור — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Hebrew: שׁוּק שָׁחֹר (shúk shakhór) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Hindi: काला बाज़ार (kālā bāzār) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Hindi: चोर बाज़ार (cor bāzār) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Hungarian: feketepiac — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Hungarian: feketekereskedelem — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Indonesian: pasar gelap — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Irish: margadh dubh — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Italian: mercato nero — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Italian: mercato negro — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Japanese: 闇市 (yamiichi) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Japanese: 闇市場 (yamiichiba) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Japanese: ブラック・マーケット (burakku-māketto) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Kazakh: қара нарық (qara naryq) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Khmer: ផ្សារងងឹត (phsaa ngɔɔngɔngɨt) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Korean: 암시장 (amsijang) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Korean: 블랙마켓 (beullaengmaket) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Northern Kurdish: bazara reş — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Kyrgyz: кара базар (kara bazar) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Lao: ຕລາດມືດ (ta lāt mư̄t) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Lao: ຕະຫລາດມືດ (ta lāt mư̄t) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Latvian: melnais tirgus — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Lithuanian: juodoji rinka — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Macedonian: црн пазар (crn pazar) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Malay: pasaran gelap — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Mongolian: хар зах (xar zax) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Norwegian Bokmål: svartebørs — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: svartebørs — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Pashto: تور بازار (tor bāzār) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Persian: بازارِ سِیاه (bâzâr-e siyâh) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Polish: czarny rynek — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Portuguese: mercado negro — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Romanian: piață neagră — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Russian: чёрный ры́нок (čórnyj rýnok) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Serbo-Croatian: црно тржиште — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Serbo-Croatian: црна бурза — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Serbo-Croatian: црна берза — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Serbo-Croatian: crno tržište — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Serbo-Croatian: crna burza — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Serbo-Croatian: crna berza — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Slovak: čierny trh — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Slovene: črni trg — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Spanish: mercado negro — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Swedish: svart börs — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Swedish: svart marknad — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Tajik: бозори сиёҳ (bozor-i siyoh) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Tamil: கருப்பு சந்தை (karuppu cantai) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Tatar: кара базар (qara bazar) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Thai: ตลาดมืด (dtà-làat-mʉ̂ʉt) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Tibetan: ནག་ཚོང (nag tshong) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Turkish: kara piyasa — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Turkish: kara borsa — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Turkish: yeraltı ekonomisi — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Turkish: kara pazar — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Turkmen: gara bazar — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Ukrainian: чо́рний ри́нок (čórnyj rýnok) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Urdu: کالا بازار (kālā bāzār) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Urdu: چور بازار (cor bāzār) — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Uzbek: qora bozor — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Vietnamese: chợ đen — trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing or price controls
  • Bulgarian: черен пазар (čeren pazar) — people who engage in such trade or that sector of the economy
  • Bulgarian: черна борса (černa borsa) — people who engage in such trade or that sector of the economy
  • Finnish: musta pörssi — people who engage in such trade or that sector of the economy
  • Finnish: mustan pörssin kauppiaat — people who engage in such trade or that sector of the economy
  • German: Schwarzmarkt — people who engage in such trade or that sector of the economy
  • Irish: margadh dubh — people who engage in such trade or that sector of the economy
  • Polish: czarny rynek — people who engage in such trade or that sector of the economy
  • Portuguese: mercado negro — people who engage in such trade or that sector of the economy
  • Russian: чёрный ры́нок (čórnyj rýnok) — people who engage in such trade or that sector of the economy
  • Swedish: svartabörshaj — people who engage in such trade or that sector of the economy
  • Turkish: kara borsa — people who engage in such trade or that sector of the economy