Meanings
comparative more tacit · superlative most tacit
- Implied, but not made explicit, especially through silence.
tacit consent
consent by silence, or by not raising an objection
3 more examples
Our tacit treaty with Miss Maudie was that we could play on her lawn, eat her scuppernongs if we didn’t jump on the arbor, and explore her vast back lot,
1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLCHe does this by way of a tacit reference to Homer.
1983, Stanley Rosen, Plato’s Sophist: The Drama of Original & Image, page 62[…] disengagement represents a tacit rejection of governing institutions and processes, especially among young people, […]
2004, Lawrence Pratchett, Vivien Lowndes, editors, Developing Democracy in Europe: An Analytical Summary, →ISBN
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveimplied by or inferred from actions or statements
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latintacitus“that is passed over in silence, done without words, assumed as a matter of course, silent”
- Middle Frenchtacite
- Englishtacit
Borrowed from late Middle French tacite, or from Latin tacitus (“that is passed over in silence, done without words, assumed as a matter of course, silent”), from tacere (“to be silent”).
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic ضِمْنَيّ
- ضِمْنَيّ (ḍimnayy)done or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
Bulgarian мълчали́в, подразби́ращ се
- мълчали́в (mălčalív)done or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- подразби́ращ се (podrazbírašt se)not derived from formal principles of reasoning
Catalan tàcit
- tàcitdone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
Czech mlčenlivý
- mlčenlivýdone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
Dutch stilzwijgend, non-verbaal
- stilzwijgenddone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- non-verbaaldone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
Finnish äänetön, hiljainen
- äänetöndone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- hiljainendone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
French tacite
- tacitedone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
German stillschweigend, still
- stillschweigenddone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- stilldone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- impliziertdone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- unausgesprochendone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- schweigenddone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- stillschweigendnot derived from formal principles of reasoning
- implizitnot derived from formal principles of reasoning
Greek σιωπηρός
- σιωπηρός (siopirós)done or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
Hungarian hallgatólagos
- hallgatólagosdone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
Irish tostach
- tostachdone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
Latin tacitus
- tacitusdone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
Norwegian Bokmål stilltiende, implisitt
- stilltiendedone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- implisittnot derived from formal principles of reasoning
Persian ضمنی
- ضمنی (zemni)done or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
Polish cichy, milczący
- cichydone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- milczącydone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- niejawnynot derived from formal principles of reasoning
- domyślnynot derived from formal principles of reasoning
Portuguese tácito, indutivo
- tácitodone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- indutivonot derived from formal principles of reasoning
Russian негла́сный, непи́саный
- негла́сный (neglásnyj)done or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- непи́саный (nepísanyj)done or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- молчали́вый (molčalívyj)done or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- подразумева́емый (podrazumevájemyj)done or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- не вы́раженный слова́ми (ne výražennyj slovámi)done or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
Spanish tácito, implícito
- tácitodone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- implícitodone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
Swedish tyst, underförstådd
- tystdone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- underförstådddone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- outtaladdone or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
Ukrainian мовчазни́й, мовчазли́вий
- мовчазни́й (movčaznýj)done or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
- мовчазли́вий (movčazlývyj)done or made in silence; implied, but not expressed; silent
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with tacit
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
tacit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tacit
“tacit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tacit. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tacit,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tacit.
Source: tacit on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.