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gray market

Definition of Gray Market

(noun) A market for goods or services that are in short supply.

Gray Market Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: gray mar·ket

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /grAY mAHR-kuht/
  • British English – /grAY mAHk-it/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /greɪ ˈmɑrkət/
  • British English – /greɪ ˈmɑːkɪt/

Usage Notes

  • Plural: gray markets
  • A gray market is different than a black market in that a gray market is legal and a black market is not.
  • Variant spelling: grey market

Additional Information

Related Terms


Works Consulted

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).

Wiley. (N.d.) Wiley Online Library. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/).

Cite the Definition of Gray Market

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2015. “gray market.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved December 2, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/gray-market/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

gray market. (2015). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/gray-market/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2015. “gray market.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed December 2, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/gray-market/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“gray market.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2015. Web. 2 Dec. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/gray-market/>.