Meaning & use
implicitly
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Meanings
adverbnot comparable
In a way that is suggested or understood but not said directly.
Grammar: Often used with verbs like state, agree or accept: implicitly agreed.
Patterns
- implicitly agree
- implicitly accept
By staying silent, she implicitly agreed with the plan.
The article implicitly criticizes the government without naming anyone.
The rules implicitly assume that everyone can read.
adverbnot comparable
Completely and without any doubt or question.
Grammar: Almost always with trust or believe: trust someone implicitly.
Patterns
- trust someone implicitly
- believe something implicitly
I trust my sister implicitly with my secrets.
The soldiers followed the captain implicitly.
He believed the old story implicitly.
Common combinations
- trust implicitly
- The children trust their grandmother implicitly.
- implicitly understood
- The dress code was implicitly understood by all.
- implicitly accept
- By signing, you implicitly accept the terms.
- implicitly assume
- The model implicitly assumes steady growth.
- implicitly criticize
- He implicitly criticized his boss in the meeting.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tacitly
- Tacitly is more formal and suggests agreement shown by silence, which is narrower than implicitly.
- indirectly
- Indirectly means by a roundabout route, but implicitly stresses that something is understood without being said.
- unquestioningly
- Unquestioningly matches the second sense only, showing belief without doubt.
- completely
- Completely means fully but does not suggest faith or trust as implicitly does in that sense.
Opposites
Word family
- implicit adjective
- suggested but not stated directly
- imply verb
- to suggest without saying directly
- implication noun
- something suggested but not stated
- explicit adjective
- clearly and fully stated
- explicitly adverb
- in a clear and direct way
Commonly confused: implicitly or explicitly? implicitly or implicate?
implicitly vs explicitly
Explicitly is the opposite: it means said clearly and directly, whereas implicitly means understood without being said.
implicitly vs implicate
Implicate means to show that someone is involved in a crime, which is a different idea from implicitly.
Practice
She didn't say yes, but by handing over the keys she ___ agreed to the deal.
Choose one answer.
Her action showed agreement without words, which is implicitly. 'Explicitly' is the opposite, since she did not state it.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “implicitly”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.