tacitly

[tas-it-lee]

adverb

1. without saying so; silently.

   We both knew we had different views on the subject, and tacitly agreed not to make it an issue.

2. in a way that is partly unconscious or cannot be explained in words.

   The hardest tasks to automate are those demanding skills that we understand only tacitly.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tacitly¹

tacit ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

Yet Ye has tacitly given it his blessing: After watching the finished cut, he texted Ballesteros, “That doc was very deep. It was like being dead and looking back on my life.”

From Los Angeles Times

That, however, is the conclusion of virtually all of American journalism, because there is a deep-seated taboo that has become all the stronger for being tacitly accepted.

From Salon

In a city whose population is more than half Latino, that stance is wearing thin with critics who claim that the department is tacitly supporting ICE by providing crowd control when raids draw angry protesters.

From Los Angeles Times

The league may tacitly have encouraged teams to stay silent, but its policies don’t expressly prohibit the Galaxy, or any other team, from supporting immigrants and opposing the arrests of legal residents.

From Los Angeles Times

On the question of climate change, it’s become increasingly clear that the elite of the far right tacitly accept the reality of climate change.

From Salon

Related Words

• softly