violated

[ vahy-uh-ley-tid ]

adjective

1. (of a law, principle, promise, agreement, instruction, etc.) acted against; not kept or honored; broken or transgressed:

   The often violated rule of thumb is that families should not spend more than 30 percent of their budget on housing.

   After this betrayal by local authorities, it will take some effort to restore the violated trust of the community.

2. (of something precious, sacred, beautiful, etc.) treated with disrespect or contempt; marred or desecrated:

   British art of the World War I era is full of images of a torn and violated landscape.

   The discovery of the violated tombs has caused pain and distress among the people of the area.

3. sexually molested, especially raped:

   History shows repeatedly the difficulty for a violated woman to be heard and believed.

4. rudely disturbed; thoughtlessly interfered with:

   They complain about their violated privacy, but then post way more online than anyone wants to know about them.

5. (of a border, home, property, restricted space, etc.) broken through or into by force or without right:

   Law enforcement was able to get to the violated border point before the smuggler escaped.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of violate.

Other Words From

• qua·si-vi·o·lat·ed adjective
• un·vi·o·lat·ed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of violated¹

First recorded in 1535–45; violate ( def ) + -ed ²( def ) for the adjective senses; violate ( def ) + -ed ¹( def ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

Last year, it declined to bring charges over allegations he violated sex trafficking laws during a trip he took to the Bahamas with paid escorts.

From BBC

"With this bill he can destroy the very life of civil society in this country, one group after another, even though the group involved that he targets as a 'terrorist supporting group' has no violated a single law."

From Salon

He said he had decided to buy the site so he could remove its policies of moderating content and banning users who had deemed to have violated its rules on hate speech and disinformation.

From BBC

The crypto platform is irked at White’s reporting that it may have violated federal law by making political contributions while negotiating for and subsequently holding a federal contract.

From Los Angeles Times

"We have a lot of hope in them because cases of gender-based violence must be given priority. So that the victim who was violated does not keep coming to court, year in year out," she said.

From BBC