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

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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Nelson and others were able to get into the Ring accounts by illicitly obtaining usernames and passwords for Yahoo email accounts and identifying individuals who used the same credentials for their Ring home security systems.

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The Bar Association is now looking into whether the company is illicitly offering services that only lawyers may offer.

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Related Words

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