inviolable
adjective
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Inviolable is a venerable word that has been with us since the 15th century. Its opposite, "violable" ("capable of being or likely to be violated") appeared a century later. The English playwright Shackerley Marmion made good use of "violable" in A Fine Companion in 1633, writing, "Alas, my heart is Tender and violable with the least weapon Sorrow can dart at me." But English speakers have never warmed up to that word the way we have to "inviolable," and it continues to be used much less frequently. Both terms descend from Latin violare, which both shares the meaning and is an ancestor of the English word violate.
Synonyms
Examples of inviolable in a Sentence
Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Sep. 2023
The same kind of dangerous myth-making about legal norms that made Roe v. Wade seem inviolable is what got us here, and what further enables the right’s all-out, deeply unpopular assault on our rights.
—Melissa Gira Grant, The New Republic, 12 Apr. 2023
Agriculture’s claim to the Colorado is inviolable, if only because the irrigated fields of the basin provide so much of our food.
—Wade Davis, Rolling Stone, 3 Sep. 2023
That was the inviolable edict AP Political Editor Donna Cassata circulated in 2006 to her team which included me, an editorial assistant.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 29 June 2023
Today, hawkish politicians and corporate media have made modern entanglements — Covid and the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine — unapproachable, inviolable movie subjects.
—Armond White, National Review, 17 May 2023
In a second experiment, every member of a team scheduled one weekly night of inviolable personal time.
—Ferris Jabr, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2016
The Supreme Court has decided that the Second Amendment is a nearly inviolable civil right, which means that there are very few ways to take guns away from people.
—Brynn Tannehill, The New Republic, 24 Apr. 2023
The American natural-rights tradition has rarely ever been articulated in a historically or intellectually defensible way, which is a great shame, because all of its major intuitions about the sacred and inviolable liberties of man are entirely correct.
—Aaron Rhodes, National Review, 24 Aug. 2020
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'inviolable.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Middle English, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin inviolabilis, from in- + violare to violate
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
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Cite this Entry
“Inviolable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inviolable. Accessed 27 Sep. 2023.
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inviolable
adjective
More from Merriam-Webster on inviolable
Nglish: Translation of inviolable for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of inviolable for Arabic Speakers
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