illicit
adj.adj. not allowed by law or rules. It often describes things that people do in secret because they are forbidden.
adj. forbidden by law, rules, or custom. Often implies a degree of secrecy or social disapproval in addition to illegality.
The police are trying to stop the illicit drug trade.
The investigation uncovered an illicit scheme to move money out of the country without paying taxes.
While some historians focus on official treaties, others examine the illicit networks of trade that flourished in the shadows of the colonial administration.
Borrowed from French illicite, from Latin illicitus, from in- (“not”) + licitus (“allowed, permitted”), from licet (“it is allowed”). By surface analysis, il- + licit.
Typically used attributively before a noun; frequently collocates with 'trade', 'activity', or 'relationship'.
an elicit activityan illicit activityLearners often confuse 'illicit' (illegal) with the phonetically similar verb 'elicit' (to draw out a response).