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
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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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of violate
Lee, the first-round pick for the Jets in 2016, played three seasons with the team, though he was suspended for the last four games of the 2018 season after violating the NFL’s policy on substance abuse.
—
Jami Ganz, Mercury News, 8 Feb. 2026
By abandoning standardized diagnostics without a viable replacement, CSU violates that trust.
—Andrea Mays, Oc Register, 8 Feb. 2026
Members of the United Professional Educators union said that moving administrators to classroom positions violated the terms of their bargaining agreement and state labor code.
—Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 7 Feb. 2026
Lee, the first-round pick for the Jets in 2016, played three seasons with the team, though he was suspended for the last four games of the 2018 season after violating the NFL’s policy on substance abuse.
—Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 7 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for violate
Jami Ganz, Mercury News, 8 Feb. 2026
By abandoning standardized diagnostics without a viable replacement, CSU violates that trust.
—Andrea Mays, Oc Register, 8 Feb. 2026
Members of the United Professional Educators union said that moving administrators to classroom positions violated the terms of their bargaining agreement and state labor code.
—Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 7 Feb. 2026
Lee, the first-round pick for the Jets in 2016, played three seasons with the team, though he was suspended for the last four games of the 2018 season after violating the NFL’s policy on substance abuse.
—Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 7 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for violate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for violate
Verb
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Long before news broke of lawsuits alleging a widespread State Farm bad faith scheme to wrongly deny Oklahoma hail claims, Coppermark’s petition accused insurance companies and the insurance department of working in cahoots.—
J.C. Hallman,
Oklahoman,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Elsewhere along the beach, Grey walked along the shoreline as waves broke at her feet.—
Danielle Minnetian,
FOXNews.com,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Cops arrested a pair of teen vandals Thursday and charged them with desecrating a Brooklyn playground in a Jewish neighborhood with more than 50 swastikas during a two-day attack, police and city officials said.—
Julian Roberts-Grmela,
New York Daily News,
22 Jan. 2026
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Officials determined that a total of 26 underground vaults and mausoleums were broken into or desecrated from November 2025 until the day Gerlach was caught.—
Alexandra Simon,
CBS News,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
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She was raped at sixteen and afterward began using marijuana, alcohol, crack, and eventually heroin.—
Dhruv Khullar,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
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Partway through the ride, the complaint alleged, the driver stopped the car, entered the back seat and raped her.—
Wyatte Grantham-Philips,
Fortune,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The indictment said a group of about 20 militants breached the main gate and set fire to the buildings, killing Stevens and Smith.—
Kathryn Watson,
CBS News,
6 Feb. 2026
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If that 45-day minimum before the TVOD window is breached, that inflection point leads to massive erosion of theatrical revenue.—
Joseph M. Singer,
Deadline,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
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More than 12,000 scrolls were once stored inside this second-century center of learning before a fire destroyed them in 262 CE.—
Maureen O'Hare,
CNN Money,
9 Feb. 2026
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Feeling bored, resentful and trapped by domestic life, Hedda hatches a plan to destroy her husband’s potential career rival, Eilert Lovberg, who happens to be her ex-lover.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
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He was booked on charges related to assault with a deadly weapon, felony vandalism and probation violation.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Feb. 2026
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Three years after the incident involving Cordell, a prisoner claimed he was assaulted, choked and Tazed by Hadder while on day release for a family reunion at a Waffle House.—
Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Trump seems unconcerned that extorting his partners contravenes the principles of what was designed as a free-trade accord.—
Stephania Taladrid,
New Yorker,
11 Dec. 2025
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This bill would clearly contravene those decisions by mandating termination of US citizenship where an individual maintains another.—
Khaleda Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Dec. 2025
Verb
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The work of love, and the question of what happens when love is absent or defiled, became a central preoccupation.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 Jan. 2026
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Their beautiful sanctuary has been defiled, and Emily is fired.—
Jessica M. Goldstein,
Vulture,
18 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Violate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/violate. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.
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