as in illegal
contrary to or forbidden by law
had a long history of using illicit drugs
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Recent Examples of illicit
Gonzalez was removed from his teaching duties after police learned about the illicit relationship in April.
—
Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 21 May 2025
Data on cryptocurrency transactions also presents a unique challenge and opportunity for detecting illicit flows.
—Yidi Xu, Forbes.com, 21 May 2025
Meanwhile, analysts and industry players point out how some Chinese exporters have found illicit ways around U.S. tariffs.
—Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 21 May 2025
In April, The Wall Street Journal reported that Joe Biden's Justice Department had been investigating Sun, noting that researchers had estimated that more than half of all illicit crypto activity took place on Sun's Tron blockchain platform.
—Rob Wile, NBC news, 20 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for illicit
Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 21 May 2025
Data on cryptocurrency transactions also presents a unique challenge and opportunity for detecting illicit flows.
—Yidi Xu, Forbes.com, 21 May 2025
Meanwhile, analysts and industry players point out how some Chinese exporters have found illicit ways around U.S. tariffs.
—Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 21 May 2025
In April, The Wall Street Journal reported that Joe Biden's Justice Department had been investigating Sun, noting that researchers had estimated that more than half of all illicit crypto activity took place on Sun's Tron blockchain platform.
—Rob Wile, NBC news, 20 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for illicit
Recent Examples of Synonyms for illicit
Adjective
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Louisville police say anything that goes into the air or explodes is illegal for average citizens.—
James Bruggers,
The Courier-Journal,
5 July 2017
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Official fireworks shows took place over the city, and illegal pyrotechnics lit up the sky everywhere in between.—
Lisa Beebe,
Los Angeles Magazine,
5 July 2017
Adjective
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The court concluded that the administration’s unilateral actions without approval by Congress were unlawful.—
Adam S. Minsky,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2025
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Of note: Your Content must not be false, defamatory, misleading or hateful, or infringe any copyright or any other third-party rights or otherwise be unlawful.—
Will Matsuda,
New York Times,
23 May 2025
Adjective
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Local business owners are complaining about threats and extortion from criminal groups in Morelos.—
Nathaniel Parish Flannery,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2025
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The department on Thursday published a list of the jurisdictions and said each one will receive formal notification that the government has deemed them noncompliant and if they're believed to be in violation of any federal criminal statutes.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
30 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Illicit.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/illicit. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
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