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View synonyms for illicit

illicit

[ ih-lis-it ]

adjective

  1. not legally permitted or authorized; unlicensed; unlawful.

    Synonyms: prohibited, illegitimate

  2. disapproved of or not permitted for moral or ethical reasons.


illicit

/ ɪˈlɪsɪt /

adjective

  1. another word for illegal
  2. not allowed or approved by common custom, rule, or standard

    illicit sexual relations

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • ilˈlicitly, adverb
  • illicitness, noun
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Other Words From

  • il·lic·it·ly adverb
  • il·lic·it·ness noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of illicit1

First recorded in 1645–55; from Latin illicitus, equivalent to il- 2 + licit ( def )
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Compare Meanings

How does illicit compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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Synonym Study

See illegal.
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Example Sentences

While Shorto is successful at finding out what his grandfather did — as well as the affairs he had, the people he swindled, the drinking problem that tanked his illicit career — he struggles to learn more about just who his grandfather was.

Not because I’m scrolling through friends’ kid photos or getting FOMO glimpsing everyone’s takeout or illicit trips or vaccine snaps.

From Eater

I think many are used—at least in a transactions sense—mainly for illicit financing.

And, while Netflix’s Tiger King gave many of us something to binge during that initial shift to being home all the time, the Tiger King himself used illicit SEO tactics to mislead users searching for his main competitor.

Reddit and Facebook both use humans to moderate, and are in a seemingly never-ending fight to protect their users from illicit or biased content.

But the increasing number of fraudsters bringing back wares to stores to make an illicit killing has  become impossible to ignore.

At a country show his father deliberately lost him to pursue another illicit affair.

Alexandre went so far as to buy back a Degas from its illicit owners.

It causes some of my cells to express Ebola proteins to illicit an immune response.

LSD, an illicit drug with a serious stigma, was once the darling of the psychotherapy world.

Whole fleets of boats with illicit cargoes had been passing and repassing between Kent and Picardy.

He is too scrupulous to seek to seduce the wife of another; he even fears to contract an illicit intimacy with a maid or a widow.

For his wifes and childrens sake he is sorely tempted to commit fraud, to tell falsehoods, and obtain illicit gains.

He forbade illicit trade and the receipt of presents, and secured the company's servants increased salaries.

The royal revenues suffered greatly by this illicit trade, and the royal agents accused the colonists of openly favoring it.

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Illichillicitly