violate
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
to break a law, an agreement, or a formal rule.
to fail to comply with a law, treaty, or regulation. Transitive — requires a direct object representing the rule being broken.
Simple“The company had to pay a fine because they violated safety rules.”
In context“The international tribunal determined that the state had violated several articles of the Geneva Convention during the border dispute.”
UsageCommonly used with objects like 'law', 'treaty', 'rights', or 'policy'.
- 02 C1 Advanced
to treat a person, a place, or someone's privacy without respect.
to treat a person, sacred place, or private space with irreverence or without consent.
Simple“The loud music violated the peaceful atmosphere of the park.”
In context“The protesters felt that the new surveillance cameras violated their right to privacy in public spaces.”
Teacher's tipIn modern contexts, this is often used regarding 'privacy' or 'personal space'.
- 03 C2 Proficiency
to attack someone sexually.
to commit an act of sexual assault or rape against a person. Highly formal or literary in this specific usage.
Simple“The victim spoke out about how she had been violated.”
In context“The historical novel depicts the harsh realities of war, including how civilians were often violated by invading forces.”
Teacher's tipThis is a very serious and sensitive term; in modern legal English, 'sexual assault' is more common.
Usage violates the law · violating his right · violate assumption
“Those states and 25 others also accuse Meta of violating federal law by improperly collecting and using personal data of children while they used its platforms.”
“A court rules that a hold on all wind projects clearly violates the law.”
From Middle English violaten (“to defile, render impure”), from violat(e) (“defiled, desecrated”, also used as the past participle of violaten) + -en, borrowed from Latin violātus, perfect passive participle of violō (“to treat with violence (whether bodily or mental)”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Ultimately from vīs (“strength, power, force, violence”).
From Middle English violat, from Classical Latin violātus.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.