illicit
/ɪˈlɪsɪt/adjective, noun
illicit is spelled I-L-L-I-C-I-T: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “elicit vs illicit” about 2,400 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, illicit means “Not approved by law, but not invalid” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in illicit?
| Letters | 7: I-L-L-I-C-I-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.7 times per million words; the 16,455th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is illicit?
Illicit appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce illicit?
- /ɪˈlɪsɪt/
Illicit has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-illicit.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with illicit
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: elicit (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of illicit
- more illicit comparative
- most illicit superlative
- illicits plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does illicit mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not approved by law, but not invalid.
The bigamous marriage, while illicit, was not invalid.
- 2
Breaking social norms.
- 3
Unlawful.
noun
- 1
A banned or unlawful item.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Illicit in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | illicite |
| Portuguese | ilícito |
| Spanish | ilícito |
| German | unerlaubt, verboten, unzulässig , rechtswidrig |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does illicit come from?
Borrowed from French illicite, from Latin illicitus, from in- (“not”) + licitus (“allowed, permitted”), from licet (“it is allowed”). By surface analysis, il- + licit.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).