Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Not sanctioned by custom or law; improper or unlawful.
- adjective Linguistics Improperly formed; ungrammatical.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Not authorized or permitted; prohibited; unlicensed; unlawful: as, illicit trade; illicit intercourse.
- Acting unlawfully; clandestine.
- Synonyms Unlawful, Illegitimate, etc. See
lawful .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Not permitted or allowed; prohibited; unlawful
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective law Not approved by law, but not
invalid . - adjective Breaking social norms.
- adjective Unlawful.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective contrary to or forbidden by law
- adjective contrary to accepted morality (especially sexual morality) or convention
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The term illicit device contained with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act is argued to be limited to pirate or counterfeit decoders and therefore does not include decoders procured in this manner.
BBC Ouch Blog BBC Sport 2011
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Bank Mellat officials have denied engaging in illicit business and have told Iranian state-owned media that the U.S. has never provided any evidence to back its claims.
U.A.E. Cuts Off Ties to Iran Banks Chip Cummins 2010
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Typically, the safety advice to travelers to Mexico is to avoid driving at night, don't wear flashy clothing or jewelry, don't engage in illicit conduct etc.
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The real fear over the bachelor girl was the state of her morals: a woman alone could engage in illicit relations with men and thus enjoy experiences formerly reserved for married women.
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Of course, there will be skeptics who will surmise that he had been involved in illicit activities which lead to his death.
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Typically, the safety advice to travelers to Mexico is to avoid driving at night, don't wear flashy clothing or jewelry, don't engage in illicit conduct etc.
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Prosecution of those who require marihuana for medical purposes did not achieve any of the three objectives of the CDSA identified by the Crown: preventing harm, international treaty obligations, and control of the trade in illicit drugs.
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Of course, there will be skeptics who will surmise that he had been involved in illicit activities which lead to his death.
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Of course, there will be skeptics who will surmise that he had been involved in illicit activities which lead to his death.
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Typically, the safety advice to travelers to Mexico is to avoid driving at night, don't wear flashy clothing or jewelry, don't engage in illicit conduct etc.
Dan337 commented on the word illicit
“The lawyer tries to elicit a description of the attacker from the witness. ‘Elicit’ is always a verb. ‘Illicit,’ in contrast, is always an adjective describing something illegal or naughty.”
— Paul Brians. “Elicit/Illicit”. Common Errors in English Usage
September 8, 2011