Word Confusion: Elicit versus Illicit

Posted April 10, 2014 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
4 July 2023

Yep, I want some illicit behavior here, and by that I mean that I want to get naughty. Yup. Uh-huh. Now, it may be that I have elicited a response from you with that phrasing. And what are you thinking??

Mmmm-hmmm, I thought so . . .

Below you’ll discover that even though this pair of word confusions are heterographs, elicit is a verb while illicit is an adjective. Two different types of grammar.

I could not resist this example when it cropped up in a book I was reading:
Consider the following:
The original from the book . . .	. . . should have been
“Who didn’t suffer recriminations after having elicit sex with a man . . .?” I feel as though we’re missing an “ed” on that elicit, making this sentence mean that whoever was doing the asking was feeling guilty about asking. Or maybe she was going to be punished for asking a man to have sex with her?	“Who didn’t suffer recriminations after having illicit sex with a man . . .?” Feeling guilty about having wrongful sex.

Okay, getting serious for a sec’, I was hoping to illicit a laugh, oops, I mean elicit — since I wanted to get a rise out of ya — *giggle*. Now go on out there to face the day and laugh a bit while you’re at it.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Elicit	Illicit
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake by Clinton and Charles Robertson and uploaded by Jacopo Werther is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — Oh, yeah. A snake definitely will elicit a reaction from me!	Illicit Whisky Still, Glen Torridon, Wester Ross, by Tom Forrest is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, courtesy of Geograph.org.uk via Wikimedia Commons.
Part of Grammar:
Verb, transitive Third person present verb: elicits Past tense or past participle: elicited Present participle: eliciting	Adjective
Evoke or draw out a response/answer/fact from someone in reaction to one’s own actions or questions [Archaic] Draw forth (something that is latent or potential) into existence	Forbidden by law, rules, or custom
Examples:
Puppies generally elicit oohs and ahs from people. My declaration was intended to elicit a response from him. Her remarks elicited cheers. Hypnotism elicited his hidden fears. A corrupt heart elicits in an hour all that is bad in us. They invariably elicit exclamations of approval from guests.	He was dealing in illicit drugs. Prostitution is an illicit business in most countries. Marijuana is still illicit in most states. He was arrested for selling illicit copies of the software. She had an illicit affair with her boss.
Derivatives:
Adjective: nonelicited, unelicited Noun: elicitation, eliciting, elicitor	Adverb: illicitly Noun: illicitness
History of the Word:
Mid-17th century from the Latin elicit- meaning drawn out by trickery or magic, which is from the verb elicere, from e-, a variant of ex-, (out) + lacere (entice, deceive).	Early 16th century from the French, or from the Latin illicitus, in + licitus

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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