Something implicit is understood without being said out loud. An implicit criticism, implicit in the question, the agreement was implicit.
Its opposite is explicit, and the pair is one of the most useful in careful English: explicit is stated, implicit is meant. The preposition is in — implicit in the argument. There is a second, quite different sense meaning complete and unquestioning: implicit trust, implicit obedience. That one confuses learners because it seems unrelated, and the link is the idea of something so wrapped up in a relationship that it never needs saying.
1adjectiveimplicitMeant without being said directly.
“There was an implicit threat in the whole letter.”
synonyms: unspoken, implied, tacit
2adjectivecompleteComplete and unquestioning.
“She had implicit trust in him and it was misplaced.”
implicit is a quality of being unstated.
Also accepted in games: unspoken
Latin implicitus is the past participle of implicare, to fold in — the same verb behind imply, employ and complicated. Something implicit is folded into what was said rather than laid out beside it.
Latin
implicitus
Middle French
implicite
English, today
implicit
Built from
From Middle French implicite, from Latin implicitus, past participle of implico (“to infold, involve, entangle”); see implicate.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA