1
as in to break
to fail to keep
you've violated the company's rule against smoking within 30 feet of the building
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to desecrate
to treat (a sacred place or object) shamefully or with great disrespect
the invaders violated the temple by using it to stable their horses
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of violate
However, in abandoning Earth science, NASA would be violating the law that created the agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958.
—
Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 15 Aug. 2025
The restaurant violated 12 standards, including missing date marks on food and dumpster doors left open.
—Evan Moore
august 15, Charlotte Observer, 15 Aug. 2025
Hall argued that sale would violate a business agreement the two musicians reached on Oct. 15, 2021.
—Evan Mealins, The Tennessean, 15 Aug. 2025
Policy experts viewed the Trump administration’s interim final rule on H-1B visas, which a court blocked for violating the Administrative Procedure Act, as designed to prevent, or at least discourage, employers from using the H-1B category by narrowing eligibility and piling on requirements.
—Stuart Anderson, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for violate
Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 15 Aug. 2025
The restaurant violated 12 standards, including missing date marks on food and dumpster doors left open.
—Evan Moore
august 15, Charlotte Observer, 15 Aug. 2025
Hall argued that sale would violate a business agreement the two musicians reached on Oct. 15, 2021.
—Evan Mealins, The Tennessean, 15 Aug. 2025
Policy experts viewed the Trump administration’s interim final rule on H-1B visas, which a court blocked for violating the Administrative Procedure Act, as designed to prevent, or at least discourage, employers from using the H-1B category by narrowing eligibility and piling on requirements.
—Stuart Anderson, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for violate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for violate
Verb
-
This is particularly the case for entrepreneurs like myself, whose clients are high-achieving women looking for help in breaking lifelong patterns.—
Shay Levister,
Forbes.com,
7 Aug. 2025
-
Edwards broke his own world record twice on that day, jumping a gargantuan 18 meters and 29 centimeters (slightly over 60 feet) with his second attempt.—
George Ramsay,
CNN Money,
7 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
During the French Revolution, Louis XIV’s tomb was desecrated and his remains scattered.—
Helen I. Bennett,
Hartford Courant,
23 July 2025
-
Blevins is facing one count of desecrating human remains and another for hindering apprehension in connection with the case.—
Jessica Schladebeck,
New York Daily News,
9 Jan. 2025
Verb
-
The next execution is Kayle Barrington Bates in Florida on Aug. 19 for the 1982 stabbing death of a 24-year-old woman named Janet White, who was kidnapped from her office and taken to the woods before Bates beat her, tried to rape her and ultimately killed her.—
Amanda Lee Myers,
USA Today,
5 Aug. 2025
-
Placer County sheriff’s deputies arrested a 27-year-old man suspected of attempting to rape a woman in a park outside Roseville Sunday afternoon — while other deputies on their way to the scene wound up in a car crash.—
Ethan Wolin
August 4,
Sacbee.com,
4 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
By rule, the ball does not have to touch a fan who breaches the field of play.—
Kevin Acee,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
19 Aug. 2025
-
Newcastle felt the same sting last summer, when its own young star Elliot Anderson departed for Nottingham Forest when the club faced the prospect of breaching PSR and incurring a points deduction.—
Harry De Cosemo,
Forbes.com,
18 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
For weeks after the house was destroyed, Ms. Monarrez couldn’t sleep.—
Jill Cowan,
New York Times,
19 Aug. 2025
-
Large dangerous waves will likely inundate and destroy protective dune structures.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
19 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
The reigning 100-meter world champion sprinter also issued an apology to her boyfriend after allegedly assaulting him in a Seattle airport.—
Jade Walker,
CNN Money,
14 Aug. 2025
-
The passenger did not physically assault anyone on the aircraft, and no injuries were reported, according to police.—
Michelle Del Rey,
USA Today,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
The Court should not permit the Fifth Circuit to continue its practice of contravening foundational equitable principles by ordering universal relief.—
Andrew Stanton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 June 2025
-
Seventeen European Union countries accused Hungary on Tuesday of contravening fundamental EU values by passing laws that target LGBTQ people, as tensions deepen between Budapest and a majority of member states.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
27 May 2025
Verb
-
When a young family member takes over the business, ethics go out the window as corpses are defiled, organs are sold, gold teeth are pulled, and people are maybe even murdered.—
K. Thor Jensen,
PC Magazine,
30 May 2025
-
Murnau’s famously arresting use of shadows to visualize the vampire’s defiling reach is reimagined when those shadows in this new version extend themselves in a 360-degree pan that evokes their vertiginous inescapability.—
Jim Shepard,
New York Times,
12 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Violate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/violate. Accessed 23 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share