violate

[ vahy-uh-leyt ]

See synonyms for: violate violated violating violator on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),vi·o·lat·ed, vi·o·lat·ing.

to act against (a law, principle, promise, agreement, instruction, etc.); break, transgress, or fail to honor: He violated city bylaws by building without a permit.I’d stay longer, but I don’t want to violate my curfew.
to treat (something precious, sacred, beautiful, etc.) with disrespect or contempt; mar or desecrate: They feel compelled to speak out against governments that violate human rights.

to break through or into by force or without right, as a border, home, property, restricted space, etc.: A hostile power has violated our airspace.They returned to find that their home had been violated.
to break in upon or disturb rudely; interfere thoughtlessly with: These surveillance cameras violate my privacy.
to molest sexually, especially to rape.

Origin of violate

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin violātus “treated with violence,” past participle of violāre “to treat with violence, violate,” apparently derivative of violentus violent (taking viol- as base); see -ate¹

Other words from violate

vi·o·la·tor, vi·o·lat·er, noun
pre·vi·o·late, verb (used with object), pre·vi·o·lat·ed, pre·vi·o·lat·ing.
re·vi·o·late, verb (used with object), re·vi·o·lat·ed, re·vi·o·lat·ing.

Words Nearby violate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use violate in a sentence

The next day, Boslough found that he had been temporarily suspended for violating Nextdoor’s rules about being “helpful, not hurtful.”
How the Covid-19 pandemic broke Nextdoor | Rebecca Heilweil | February 9, 2021 | Vox
Any publisher found to be violating the policies in Google News or Google Discover may be dropped from search results.
Google hiding addresses in local pack and should you write meta descriptions: Tuesday’s daily brief | Carolyn Lyden | February 9, 2021 | Search Engine Land
“We’re looking to see if any department policies were violated by either the officer or his supervisors,” Staffordsmith said.
How the Police Bank Millions Through Their Union Contracts | by Andrew Ford, Asbury Park Press, and Agnes Chang, Jeff Kao and Agnel Philip, ProPublica | February 8, 2021 | ProPublica
This preservation request applies to posts and comments about Dominion that YouTube has removed for violating its terms of use.
Dominion Voting tells Facebook, Parler and other social media sites to preserve posts for lawsuits | Rachel Lerman | February 5, 2021 | Washington Post
“We need to rein in behavior that violates antitrust law and monopolistic behavior, and Amazon is going to be part of that work,” Jayapal said in an interview.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos‘s successor will inherit his challenges | Jay Greene, Cat Zakrzewski | February 4, 2021 | Washington Post

violate the tombs, if she has taken refuge in the abodes of death, far within some passage or hypogeum.
The Works of Theophile Gautier, Volume 5 | Theophile Gautier

British Dictionary definitions for violate

violate

/ (ˈvaɪəˌleɪt) /

verb(tr)

to break, disregard, or infringe (a law, agreement, etc)
to rape or otherwise sexually assault

to disturb rudely or improperly; break in upon
to treat irreverently or disrespectfully; outrage: he violated a sanctuary
obsolete to mistreat physically

adjective

archaic violated or dishonoured

Origin of violate

C15: from Latin violāre to do violence to, from vīs strength

Derived forms of violate

violable, adjective
violability or violableness, noun
violably, adverb
violation, noun
violative, adjective
violator or violater, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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