Showing results for "violated"

• past tense form of violate.
• past participle of violate.

violated

American  

[vahy-uh-lay-tid] / ˈvaɪ əˌleɪ tɪd /

adjective

1. (of a law, principle, promise, agreement, instruction, etc.) acted against; not kept or honored; broken or transgressed.

   The often violated rule of thumb is that families should not spend more than 30 percent of their budget on housing.

   After this betrayal by local authorities, it will take some effort to restore the violated trust of the community.

2. (of something precious, sacred, beautiful, etc.) treated with disrespect or contempt; marred or desecrated.

   British art of the World War I era is full of images of a torn and violated landscape.

   The discovery of the violated tombs has caused pain and distress among the people of the area.

3. sexually molested, especially raped.

   History shows repeatedly the difficulty for a violated woman to be heard and believed.

4. rudely disturbed; thoughtlessly interfered with.

   They complain about their violated privacy, but then post way more online than anyone wants to know about them.

5. (of a border, home, property, restricted space, etc.) broken through or into by force or without right.

   Law enforcement was able to get to the violated border point before the smuggler escaped.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of violate.

Other Word Forms

• quasi-violated
  adjective
• unviolated
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of violated

First recorded in 1535–45; violate ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; violate ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

violated

“The Antitrust Division is simply investigating to determine whether these news organizations have violated the antitrust laws.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026

In 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency found that GEO Group had violated federal law by misusing HDQ Neutral.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

But all of this is uncharted territory for Congress, as Briffault explained: “The problem is, the laws have never been significantly enforced because they’ve never been violated in such an egregious way,” he said.

From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2026

"Uefa's suggestions that Mr Infantino violated any law or ethical principle are categorically without merit."

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

His indifference toward the world was so certain that a few days later José Arcadio violated the promise he had made to his mother and left him free to go out whenever he wanted to.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez