solicit
verb
Simple meaning
Incite, move, or persuade to some act of lawlessness or insubordination.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
suhlisitSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
səˈlɪsɪt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Incite, move, or persuade to some act of lawlessness or insubordination
“He was accused of soliciting his colleagues to destroy the documents.”
Approach with an offer of sexual favors
“He was solicited by a prostitute.”
transitive
To persuade or incite one to commit some act, especially illegal or sexual behavior.
transitive
To persistently endeavor to obtain an object, or bring about an event.
transitive
To offer to perform sexual activity, especially when for a payment.
Make amorous advances towards
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Incite, move, or persuade to some act of lawlessness or insubordination
Used this way, solicit is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
“He was accused of soliciting his colleagues to destroy the documents.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Incite / persuadeverb
“He was accused of soliciting his colleagues to destroy the documents.”
Approach / offerverb
“He was solicited by a prostitute.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A petitioner who solicits contributions or trade or votes.
An entreaty addressed to someone of superior status.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.