VEYE-uh-layt
/ˈvaɪəleɪt/
violate is pronounced VEYE-uh-layt (/ˈvaɪəleɪt/). Violate means to infringe against a rule, agreement, or personal rights, often by acting in a way that breaks established norms or laws. It can refer to physical intrusion or moral transgression, and is commonly used in legal, ethical, or social contexts. The term conveys a clear breach of expected conduct or boundaries.
Violate means to infringe against a rule, agreement, or personal rights, often by acting in a way that breaks established norms or laws. It can refer to physical intrusion or moral transgression, and is commonly used in legal, ethical, or social contexts. The term conveys a clear breach of expected conduct or boundaries.
"The company faced penalties after it violated environmental regulations."
"He felt violated after the unconsented disclosure of his private information."
"The treaty prohibits certain actions, and any breach would violate its terms."
Pronounce as /ˈvaɪ.əˌleɪt/ in US/UK/AU. Start with the stressed syllable VY-uh, where /aɪ/ is a long I sound as in 'fly', followed by a schwa /ə/ in the second syllable, and finish with /leɪt/ like 'late'. In careful speech, the sequence is vi-o-late with secondary stress on the second syllable, but natural speech often compresses to /ˈvaɪəˌleɪt/ with a light middle vowel. Practice by isolating the three parts: /ˈvaɪ/ + /ə/ + /leɪt/ and blend smoothly.
Common errors: misplacing stress (putting emphasis on the third syllable) and flattening /aɪə/ into a single vowel. Another error is pronouncing /ˈvaɪəl.eɪt/ with an extra consonant or mispronouncing /leɪt/ as /lit/. Correction tips: practice /ˈvaɪ.əˌleɪt/ by chunking into three parts, maintain the /aɪ/ before the schwa, and ensure the final syllable has the long A diphthong /eɪ/ before /t/. Tap the tongue slightly between /ə/ and /l/ to keep clean onset of /leɪt/.”},{
US/UK/AU share the core /ˈvaɪ.əˌleɪt/ pattern, but rhoticity affects the preceding vowel in connected speech; in rhotic accents you may hear a slightly more pronounced /ɹ/ in adjacent phrases. UK and AU speakers may reduce the /ə/ more aggressively in fluent speech, yielding /ˈvaɪ.ə leɪt/ with a snappier middle. Australian often approaches /ˈvaɪ.əˌleɪt/ with a crisper /t/ at the end and less intonation variance than British speech. Use careful articulation in formal contexts to preserve the three-syllable contour.
Difficulties arise from the triplet syllable structure and the /aɪə/ sequence. The glide from /aɪ/ to /ə/ can be subtle, causing an indistinct middle vowel. The final /leɪt/ must maintain the long A followed by a voiceless /t/; this can fluster non-native speakers who avoid the alveolar /t/ with a t-voicing mismatch. Focus on keeping the three distinct phonetic chunks and emphasize the /aɪ/ then the schwa before the /leɪt/.
A unique feature is the subtle internal vowel sequence /aɪə/ between /ˈvaɪ/ and /leɪt/. It’s not a true triphthong, but a contrasting glide providing a shaky bridge between the initial stressed syllable and the final /leɪt/. Maintaining a clean schwa between /ˈvaɪ/ and /ˌleɪt/ is crucial to natural-sounding pronunciation and can be the difference between intelligible and blurred speech.
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Violate comes from the Latin violatus, past participle of violare, meaning 'to injure, wound, or break.' Violare derives from the noun violencia (violence, injury) and the verb violo, meaning 'to treat with violence, injure, offend.' The Latin root viol- relates to boundary-breaking or injury, with the sense of transgression expanding across languages. In English, violate was first attested in the 15th century, initially in the sense of injure or wound, later expanding to breach of laws, oaths, or rights. In legal and moral discourse, its usage sharpened to describe breaches of rules or promises, and by the early modern period it commonly meant 'to infringe or break' in formal contexts. Over time, the word acquired nuanced uses: physical intrusions (as in invading personal space) and abstract transgressions (as in violating a contract or human rights). The evolution reflects a shift from tangible harm to breaches of social or legal norms, while retaining the core idea of breaking a boundary or standard.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "violate" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "violate"
-ate sounds
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