implicitly

American  

[im-plis-it-lee] / ɪmˈplɪs ɪt li /

adverb

1. without actually saying so; in a way that does not use words.

   Consumers buying the company’s products are implicitly accepting its practices.

2. without question or reservation; absolutely.

   I trusted her implicitly and listened intently to everything she said.

3. as an inherent but hidden part of the way things are; latently.

   The threat of violence against women is implicitly present all around us, everywhere.

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Other Word Forms

• unimplicitly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of implicitly

implicit ( def. ) + -ly

Explanation

When you express something indirectly, you say it implicitly. Your sister might implicitly suggest that you're the one who ate the last cookie by glaring at you then looking at the empty plate. When you communicate something implicitly, you don't say it directly. Instead, you might drop hints or let your actions express it, like when a teacher doesn't stop a kid from bullying another, which implicitly says it's okay to bully. Implicitly can also be a synonym for absolutely — you trust your best friend implicitly: completely, without any reservations.

Example Sentences

You’re implicitly saying that whatever you currently hold is the best allocation in this environment.

From MarketWatch • May 12, 2026

His language implicitly reaffirmed a vision of citizenship based on civic membership rather than ethnic inheritance.

From Salon • May 11, 2026

Ms. Enyedi implicitly provokes such consideration through shots that often put flora in the foreground, with humans reduced to background extras.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

In a rare public appearance by a senior advisor, he also denied telling the Foreign Office "explicitly or implicitly" that security checks "should be cleared at all costs".

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026

“All these tests and tubes,” said Tante Jans, who believed in them implicitly, “what do they really prove?”

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Related Words

• essentially