Meanings
plural grey markets · alternative gray market
- businessThe buying and selling of goods through distribution channels other than those authorized or intended by the manufacturer or producer.
1 more example
The shortages have given rise to a grey market last seen shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. According to Novaya Gazeta Europe, petrol is now openly advertised on Telegram and the marketplace website Avito, with sellers in Russian-occupied Crimea offering to deliver fuel by taxi within four hours at heavily inflated prices.
2026 July 7, Pjotr Sauer, “Russian cities feel the pinch amid worsening fuel shortages”, in The Guardian, →ISSNSynonyms: parallel market
- businessThe trading of shares before they are listed on the stock exchange.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe buying and selling of goods through distribution channels other than those authorized or intended by the manufacturer or producer.
More synonyms by meaning
nounan unofficial market in which goods are bought and sold at prices lower than the official price set by a regulatory agency
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
By analogy with black market.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
German Graumarkt, Graumarkt
- Graumarktthe buying and selling of goods through distribution channels other than those authorized or intended by the manufacturer or producer
- Graumarktthe trading of shares before they are listed on the stock exchange
Irish margadh liath, margadh liath
- margadh liaththe buying and selling of goods through distribution channels other than those authorized or intended by the manufacturer or producer
- margadh liaththe trading of shares before they are listed on the stock exchange
Polish szara strefa, szara strefa
- szara strefathe buying and selling of goods through distribution channels other than those authorized or intended by the manufacturer or producer
- szara strefathe trading of shares before they are listed on the stock exchange
Romanian piață gri
- piață grithe buying and selling of goods through distribution channels other than those authorized or intended by the manufacturer or producer
Cite this entry
grey market. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grey%20market
“grey market.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grey%20market. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “grey market,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/grey%20market.
Source: grey market on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.