VIOLATION Synonyms: 78 Similar and Opposite Words

violation

noun

ˌvī-ə-ˈlā-shən

Definition of violation

as in crime

a breaking of a moral or legal code in colonial times blasphemy was considered a serious civil violation that merited harsh punishment

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in infringement

a failure to uphold the requirements of law, duty, or obligation a military action that must be regarded as a violation of the treaty

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in rape

the act of forcing a person to engage in sexual activity and especially intercourse war crimes include the violation of civilians

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 violation According to police, officers discovered that Rodriguez had several outstanding warrants, including a violation of probation from the state of New York, in which the charge was second-degree murder. — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 19 Sep. 2026 Martin describes the latest arrest as a bond violation involving a GPS issue. — Marvin Hurst, CBS News, 18 Sep. 2026 Additionally, 13 dining facilities received citations for health food violations including a block hand sink, food residue streaks on a meat slicer and an ice machine with slime in it. — Sacbee.com, 18 Sep. 2026 From health inspectors in Missouri and Kansas found numerous violations at Kansas City-area restaurants last week. — Joseph Hernandez, Kansas City Star, 18 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for violation

Recent Examples of Synonyms for violation

Noun

Anti-immigrant marches and vigilante groups have driven a wave of social upheaval in South Africa this year, often blaming foreign migrants for the country's high crime rate.

— Rael Ombuor The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 19 Sep. 2026
The poll also showed that crime did not crack the top five most important issues.

— Mabinty Quarshie, The Washington Examiner, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of crime

Noun

Recently, the Justice Department issued a Statement of Interest about copyright infringement litigation in the Southern District of New York.

— Vivek Shah, Fortune, 14 Sep. 2026
The technology is racing ahead of regulation, Fan said, making Chinese judges ill-equipped to deal with the deluge of cases involving individual face protections and digital infringement.

— Ling Wei, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of infringement

Noun

On Tuesday, Montgomery County police officers were called to a hospital where an underage teen girl reported a rape.

— Louis Casiano , Bill Melugin, FOXNews.com, 18 Sep. 2026
Jancys Santiago, 51, was already serving more than 20 years on a prior rape conviction in Manhattan.

— Rebecca White, New York Daily News, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of rape

Noun

The posts come amid revelations that internal testing of models from Anthropic and Google has resulted in security breaches of external, third-party networks that the engineers involved never intended to target.

— Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 21 Sep. 2026
If there is a breach, one remedy is to divest the company interest in Miramax.

— Ted Johnson, Deadline, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of breach

Noun

Deputies arrested Asher on suspicion of assault with a firearm and battery causing great bodily harm and booked him into Siskiyou County Jail.

— Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 16 Sep. 2026
Independent Russian media regularly report about returning veterans involved in assaults, drunken brawls and even killings.

— ABC News, ABC News, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of assault

Noun

According to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office, a person convicted of a felony is not eligible to run for a state office after finishing a sentence.

— Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 Sep. 2026
The measure also aligns sideshow penalties with those of street racing and makes serious bodily injury caused by a sideshow driver eligible for a felony.

— Tim Fang, CBS News, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of felony

Noun

Both Craig and Baker-Coleman were charged with conspiracy to commit larceny of a motor vehicle, second-degree criminal trespass, sixth-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit sixth-degree larceny.

— Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 18 Sep. 2026
Officer Luis Triunfel, 33, was charged Monday with burglary, grand larceny, computer trespass and tampering with evidence, police said.

— Roni Jacobson, New York Daily News, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of trespass

Browse Nearby Words

violating

violation

violations

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Violation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/violation. Accessed 23 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of violation

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

compendious

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?

Popular

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes