illicitly

[ih-lis-it-lee]

adverb

1. in a way that is not legally permitted or authorized; unlawfully.

   She estimates that more than one-third of all software installed on personal computers is obtained illicitly.

2. in a way that is disapproved of or not permitted for moral or ethical reasons.

   In divorce proceedings, “corespondent” means the person that one of the partners has been illicitly sleeping with.

Word History and Origins

Origin of illicitly¹

First recorded in 1660–70; illicit ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )

Example Sentences

The security of those materials has been an ongoing concern, with several serious incidents of uranium being illicitly sold in the years since.

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But just like the monster in Mary Shelley’s novel, this one is also determined to test the bounds of the life it has been illicitly granted.

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For the second and third purchases, he had "somehow" obtained two real driving licences belonging to adults named only as "Alice" and "Samuel" and used them "illicitly".

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In June, the government warned some asylum seekers may be illicitly working as food delivery drivers.

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It believes tyres should only be exported after shredding, which it said would make it more expensive and difficult to sell them illicitly in India.

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Related Words

• unjustifiably www.thesaurus.com
• unjustly 
• wrongly www.thesaurus.com