Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

implicit

American  
[im-plis-it] / ɪmˈplɪs ɪt /

adjective

  1. implied, rather than expressly stated.

    implicit agreement.

  2. unquestioning or unreserved; unconditional: implicit obedience;

    implicit trust;

    implicit obedience;

    implicit confidence.

    Synonyms:
    total, complete, absolute, unqualified
  3. potentially contained (usually followed byin ).

    to bring out the drama implicit in the occasion.

  4. Mathematics. (of a function) having the dependent variable not explicitly expressed in terms of the independent variables, as x 2 + y 2 = 1.

  5. Obsolete. entangled.


implicit British  
/ ɪmˈplɪsɪt /

adjective

  1. not explicit; implied; indirect

    there was implicit criticism in his voice

  2. absolute and unreserved; unquestioning

    you have implicit trust in him

  3. contained or inherent

    to bring out the anger implicit in the argument

  4. maths (of a function) having an equation of the form f( x,y ) = 0, in which y cannot be directly expressed in terms of x, as in xy + x ² + y ³ x ² = 0 Compare explicit 1

  5. obsolete intertwined

"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

Other Word Forms

  • implicitly adverb
  • implicitness noun
  • implicity noun

Etymology

Origin of implicit

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin implicitus “involved, obscure,” variant past participle of implicāre; implicate, -ite 2

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“I’d like to think that there’s an implicit trust factor because of that decade of relationships. I don’t need years of random interaction getting up to speed.”

From Barron's

These kick in when they involve an investor from a country that holds more than 40 percent of the related global manufacturing capacity -- an implicit reference to China's dominance in those sectors.

From Barron's

The same access journalism — the implicit bargain in which reporters trade critical distance for proximity to power — remains.

From Salon

The implicit assumption is that earnings are driven primarily by procurement wins and geopolitical events.

From MarketWatch

And it carried an implicit warning: If America ever ceases to be as Hilda—godly, uncompromising, moral, dutiful and good—the moss-covered lassitude of Hawthorne’s Rome awaits us too.

From The Wall Street Journal