How to Use illicit in a Sentence

illicit

adjective
Definition of illicitnext
Synonyms for illicitnext
  • She had an illicit affair with her boss.
  • He was arrested for selling illicit copies of the software.
  • Xi agreed to help curb the production of the illicit fentanyl that is a deadly component of drugs sold in the United States.
    — Chris Megerian, Fortune, 16 Nov. 2023
  • Law enforcement, meanwhile, has been unable to keep up with the spread of illicit sales and growing.
    — Michael R. Blood, Fortune, 1 Feb. 2024
  • In most of the trials, the charges were significantly reduced or outright dropped when the illicit use of snitches in the case came to light.
    — Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2023
  • The bliss of first bites, illicit cherries jubilee, Miyazaki’s gluttons ... and the crookie?
    — Laurie Ochoa, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2024
  • Late in the season, Cruz tumbles into an illicit affair with someone at the heart of her mission.
    — Los Angeles Times Staff, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2023
  • Anyway, the tryst becomes illicit, which is the point for Candy. Candy decides to take a shower.
    — Tommy Cummings, Dallas News, 28 Apr. 2023
  • But that decision took time to evolve and not from a desire to strike an illicit deal to cheat the system, Huffman insisted.
    — Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Dec. 2023
  • That’s a joy that pervades the book, despite a subplot involving an illicit romance that ends in tragedy.
    — Chelsea Leu, The Atlantic, 3 Apr. 2024
  • Huge amounts of illicit materials, yards and yards of this wretched stuff.
    — Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 20 July 2023
  • The 321-foot vessel was where many of the illicit discussions took place, according to a Bloomberg report on Friday.
    — Tori Latham, Robb Report, 28 July 2023
  • In Boston, problems continue to plague the Mass. and Cass area, which has become an open-air illicit drug market.
    — Danny McDonald, BostonGlobe.com, 21 June 2023
  • The store passed off tablets made of illicit fentanyl as the legitimate painkillers Jonathan needed to treat his severe migraines.
    — Connor Sheets, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2023
  • The fourth floor was filthy, residents said, with people tossing trash out the windows while others ran shops and illicit bars called shebeens from their rooms.
    — Lynsey Chutel, New York Times, 1 Sep. 2023
  • One activist cited by the outlet said the illicit operation can sell a pound of cat meat for around $4 by passing them off as mutton and pork.
    — Chris Lau, CNN, 24 Oct. 2023
  • Children should not be removed from the home just because a parent has a substance use disorder or has used illicit drugs.
    — Carleen Johnson, Washington Examiner, 11 Jan. 2024
  • And in failing, the traffickers join a long line of criminals who try all manner of tactics and techniques to get illicit drugs into the U.S. to make big money.
    — Josh Meyer, USA TODAY, 25 July 2023
  • Xylazine, also known as tranq or tranq dope, has been linked to an increasing number of overdose deaths in the United States due to its rising illicit use.
    — Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 12 Apr. 2023
  • Its rise spotlights the dynamic and ever-changing nature of the illicit drug market.
    — Edward Sisco, Scientific American, 22 Aug. 2023
  • So drug traffickers haven’t felt the need to send the illicit narcotic through remote, unguarded areas of the border.
    — Mary Beth Sheridan, Washington Post, 9 Nov. 2023
  • Since emerging in the drug supply in the mid-2010s, fentanyl has increasingly come to dominate the U.S. illicit drug market.
    — Lev Facher Reprints, STAT, 21 Mar. 2024
  • Experts say being an addict these days is like playing Russian roulette, with illicit fentanyl the bullet in the chamber.
    — Gromer Jeffers Jr., Dallas News, 17 Sep. 2023
  • Her biggest plight is that none of her sons have produced a legitimate heir, choosing instead to sleep around and have illicit affairs.
    — Radhika Menon, ELLE, 5 May 2023
  • Weeks earlier, a wound that appeared after Locklear injected illicit drugs had swelled to the size of an orange.
    — Julie Wernau, WSJ, 21 Dec. 2023
  • Following the exploit, the hacker sent multiple messages to the exchange and decided to return all but $1.5 million of the illicit funds.
    — Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune Crypto, 11 July 2023
  • Its remote-access key fob rests in a Faraday bag, to jam illicit unlocking signals.
    — Vjosa Isai, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2024
  • On the original, the singer delivered his lead vocal in an anxious frenzy, telling the story of an illicit flirtation in a nightclub.
    — Danielle Amir Jackson Malike Sidibe, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2023
  • The coroner also said the fentanyl was illicit and ingested orally.
    — Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY, 9 May 2023
  • Snelling added that the agency later discovered Thompson had warrants out for her arrest and the autopsy found illicit drugs in her system.
    — Jesse Bedayn, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Aug. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'illicit.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: