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

   illicit sexual relations

Derived Forms

• illicitness, noun
• ilˈlicitly, adverb

Other Words From

• il·lic·it·ly adverb
• il·lic·it·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of illicit¹

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

Synonym Study

See illegal.

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.

From Washington Post

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.

From Singularity Hub 

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.

From Search Engine Land

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.

From Search Engine Land

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From Project Gutenberg

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.

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• adulterous
• bootleg
• clandestine
• contraband
• furtive
• illegal
• illegitimate
• immoral
• improper
• prohibited
• unauthorized
• unlawful
• unlicensed
• wrongful