Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use illicit in a sentence

20 example sentences · adjective, noun

Illicit means not approved by law, but not invalid. Example: “The bigamous marriage, while illicit, was not invalid.”

Examples of illicit by meaning

adjectiveNot approved by law, but not invalid.

  • The bigamous marriage, while illicit, was not invalid.
  • Such migrants may violate our laws against illicit entry, but if that's all they do then they are trespassers, not criminals.2008 January 8, Madeleine Albright, Memo to the President Elect: How We Can Restore America's Reputation and Leadership, New York...

adjectiveBreaking social norms.

  • I only can properly enjoy carol services if I am having an illicit affair with someone in the congregation.1993, Alan Clark, Diaries: In Power 1983-1992, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, →ISBN, →OL

adjectiveUnlawful.

  • Ayşe Erkoç learned long ago that the secret of doing anything illicit in Istanbul is to do it in full public gaze in the clear light of day.2010 July 29, Ian McDonald, The Dervish House, →ISBN, →OL

nounA banned or unlawful item.

  • A large number of studies, however, have reported that it is rare for the user of 'hard' drugs not to have initiated cannabis use prior to the other illicits.2011, Shane Darke, The Life of the Heroin User: Typical Beginnings, Trajectories and Outcomes

More sentences with illicit

  • Organized crime is largely responsible for the nation’s illicit drug trafficking.From the entry organized crime
  • It was believed on all hands that the two of them were having an illicit affair.From the entry on all hands
  • Police found two meth cooks working in the illicit lab.From the entry cook
  • Some gooners use poppers and prescription or illicit drugs to enhance their cave time.2023 March 13, Samantha Cole, quoting u/420j0bud, “Enter the Goon Cave, Where Porn and Masturbation Is All That Exists”, in Vice, archived…. From the entry goon
  • Glimpses of Dad’s nakedness under bathrobe or up boxer-short leg became illicit, both repellent and magnetic.2004, Judith Levine, Do You Remember Me?: A Father, a Daughter, and a Search for the Self, Free Press, →ISBN, page 146. From the entry boxer-short
  • By their count, the senator's illicit pocketings of money hugely exceeded Garfield's.1994, Edward Chalfant, Better in Darkness: A Biography of Henry Adams, page 408. From the entry pocketing
  • Illicit teenage parties were, of course, a health risk.2021 January 29, Gaby Hinsliff, “Behind closed bedroom doors, a teenage mental health crisis is brewing”, in The Guardian. From the entry in the making
  • Yakuza, or Yaks as they are popularly known, Japan's large and tightly organized crime and illicit drug corporations.2007, Merrill Singer, Drugging the Poor: Legal and Illegal Drugs and Social Inequality, Waveland Press, →ISBN, page 191. From the entry yak
  • So are the various illicit traffics in drugs, or rare medicines, such as aureo- and streptomycin and cortisone.1953, Ian Fleming, “Dossier for M”, in Casino Royale, London: Pan Books, published 1955, page 17. From the entry streptomycin
  • The indulgence of illicit pleasures, says Dr.1920, B. G. Jefferis, J. L. Nichols, “Sexual Proprieties and Improprieties”, in Searchlights on Health. From the entry satyriasis
  • From Spenard divorces to the bar scene that peaked during pipeline construction, many Spenard legends have an illegal or at least illicit aspect.2020 May 17, David Reamer, “History of Spenard: How a squatter, bootlegger and showman gave Anchorage’s most renowned road its name”, in…. From the entry spenard divorce
  • But it is time to deprive drug lords, organized crime and narcostates of the huge, tax-free profits realized from illicit drug use in our society.2009 February 28, “Legalize drugs to cut violence”, in Toronto Star, archived from the original on 09 Mar 2009. From the entry narcostate
  • Teens may assume that it's safe to use Vicodin and OxyContin because these drugs are available legally by prescription (unlike marijuana, cocaine, and other illicit drugs).2013, Christine Petersen, Vicodin and OxyContin, Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC, →ISBN. From the entry Vicodin
  • But just as the costs of controlling illicit drugs do not of themselves justify legalization, the extensive damage done by alcohol is not sufficient to justify reprohibition.1992, Peter H. Smith, editor, Drug Policy In The Americas, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, →ISBN, page 228. From the entry reprohibition
  • When the level of illicit drug use is added to this, it becomes apparent that psychotropism is something which affects something like half the population in America.1984, Brian M. Stableford, Future Man, page 139. From the entry psychotropism

Meaning of illicit

  1. adjective Not approved by law, but not invalid.
  2. adjective Breaking social norms.
  3. adjective Unlawful.

Full definition of illicit

Questions about illicit in a sentence

How do you use illicit in a sentence?
Illicit is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “The bigamous marriage, while illicit, was not invalid.”
What is a short sentence with illicit?
“The indulgence of illicit pleasures, says Dr.”
What does illicit mean?
Illicit means not approved by law, but not invalid.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: illicit (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use illicit in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/illicit. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.