violently
Americanadverb
-
in a way that involves uncontrolled or destructive force.
He struck the table violently with his clenched fist and shouted for more.
Dramatic video shows soldiers violently removing voters from polling stations.
-
in an intense or extreme way.
He was violently ill after ten minutes, but soon recovered fully.
We were awoken early in the morning when the house began shaking violently.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of violently
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This is when air moves violently at high altitudes with no clouds or other visual cues to help a pilot avoid it.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
When these icebergs capsize, they clash violently with the “mother” glacier.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
“Stocks that move this violently in both directions tend to keep doing so, and today’s rally, however well justified by the news, doesn’t change that underlying volatility,” Friedman said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
Heavy speculative positioning can result in messy outcomes when it suddenly reverses, swinging global markets violently as speculators are forced to cut borrowing in unrelated areas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
I reacted instinctively, coughing violently, trying to vomit out the seawater, but each gasp just dragged more in.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
