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as in to rape
to engage in sexual activity and especially intercourse with a person unwilling or unable to give consent criminal statutes delineating acts that constitute violating another person

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 violate Barfield violated both laws during charter fishing trips, according to prosecutors. Julia Marnin, Miami Herald, 23 May 2025 The restaurant violated 15 standards, including dead insects in back dry storage area and a mattress in the dumpster area. Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 23 May 2025 In the court’s opinion, special prosecutor Dan Webb’s decision to retry Smollett had violated the performer’s rights. Dominic Patten, Deadline, 23 May 2025 The Illinois Supreme Court decided in November 2024 that the special prosecutor's decision to retry Smollett on charges violated his rights. Emily Trainham, FOXNews.com, 23 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for violate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for violate
Verb
  • Ventura Fine testified that Clark was aware Combs had allegedly threatened to release explicit footage of her, while Cudi said Clark was the one who told him Combs had allegedly broken into his Los Angeles home after learning of his relationship with Ventura Fine.
    Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 28 May 2025
  • Clear communication, the ability to break things down into clear parts, and put them back together are essential.
    Ray Ravaglia, Forbes.com, 28 May 2025
Verb
  • And the Germans entered forcibly, violating all that, desecrating it with their presence.
    Ann Goldstein, New Yorker, 25 May 2025
  • Crumb desecrated sleek American surfaces in a way that felt disturbing and profound, especially to the many young people also dropping acid.
    Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 14 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • In the meantime, four other women in the U.K. have continued with a separate lawsuit against Andrew Tate, accusing him in a civil proceeding of having raped and physically abused them, and insisting police and prosecutors had failed them by declining to pursue criminal charges several years ago.
    Willem Marx, NPR, 28 May 2025
  • According to LaBella’s lawsuit, Costner, the director, improvised a scene in which Hunt’s character would be raped.
    Gene Maddaus, Variety, 28 May 2025
Verb
  • According to the agencies, the GRU hackers also carried out reconnaissance of the network of at least one producer of industrial control system components for railway systems—suggesting a possible intention to attempt sabotage—but didn’t actually succeed in breaching the company.
    Andy Greenberg, Wired News, 24 May 2025
  • The rate on the 10-year Treasury note at one point breached 4.6%.
    Medora Lee, USA Today, 24 May 2025
Verb
  • The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a plea from a group of Native American activists and supporters to block a copper mining company from destroying an Apache religious site.
    Jack Birle, The Washington Examiner, 27 May 2025
  • During the week of my embed, the Russian military identified and destroyed a few of the Vampire pilots’ positions.
    Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Atlantic, 27 May 2025
Verb
  • Super Bowl winner Ray Rice and Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt both assaulted women in the past, as well.
    Armon Sadler, VIBE.com, 21 May 2025
  • In the process we were assaulted and responded in kind.
    Tom Dreisbach, NPR, 21 May 2025
Verb
  • Three plaintiffs claimed that anti-Chinese legislation was discriminatory, violated constitutional protections prohibiting unreasonable search and seizure, and contravened due process and equal protection guarantees.
    Rick Baldoz, The Conversation, 30 Apr. 2025
  • The statute leaves no role for agencies to 'assess citizenship,' and the president lacks any lawful authority to contravene the NVRA by requiring agencies to do so.
    Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 24 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • The sacred plant, long defiled, heralded, as in the time of the Inca and all the ancient civilizations of the Andes, as a gift of the gods.
    Wade Davis, Rolling Stone, 6 Apr. 2025
  • In the Parsi tradition, the bones are left there to gradually disintegrate over time, completing the return to nature without defiling the earth.
    Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 4 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Violate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/violate. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.

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