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.

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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

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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; see origin at implicate, -ite ²

Explanation

Use the adjective implicit when you mean that something is understood but not clearly stated. You might think you and your boyfriend might have an implicit understanding that you are going to get married, but it's probably better to talk it through. A very near synonym of implicit in this particular meaning is the word implied. But the adjective implicit also means "without any doubt," so we can say that we have implicit trust or confidence in someone. The Latin root implicāre means "to involve or entangle." Another English word with a more obvious connection to this Latin root is the verb implicate.

Example Sentences

These schools weren’t quite a direct pipeline into the American armed services, but their implicit promise was to cultivate gentlemen, if not always literal officers.

From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2026

The movie has an implicit motto, confidently stated by Kyle, that applies to all security systems: “At the end of the day, it’s still run by people. And people are stupid.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026

It was implicit that the defence team had been seeking his return home, with Serbia's government making it clear it would be prepared to provide guarantees to the court if they released him.

From BBC • May 14, 2026

“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 • Mar. 27, 2026

But for the most part the new scientists avoided the word ‘evidence’ because it inevitably carried with it an implicit reference to the law courts—a reference that Sprat was willing to make explicit.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• constant
• contained
• definite
• implied
• latent
• steadfast
• tacit
• unshakable
• unspoken