violent
Syllables: vi·o·l·ent/ˈvaɪ.ə.lənt/
violent adjective: involving extreme force or motion.
Adjective
violent (comparative violenter or more violent, superlative violentest or most violent)
- Involving extreme force or motion.
- A violent wind ripped the branch from the tree.
- Synonyms:
- impetuous
- Involving physical conflict.
- We would rather negotiate, but we will use violent means if necessary.
- Looking at hundreds of campaigns over the last century, Chenoweth found that nonviolent campaigns are twice as likely to achieve their goals as violent campaigns.2019 May 13, David Robson, “The '3.5% rule': How a small minority can change the world”, in BBC
- Likely to use physical force.
- The escaped prisoners are considered extremely violent.
- Intensely vivid.
- The artist expressed his emotional theme through violent colors.
- his violent objections to the plan
- Produced or effected by force; not spontaneous; unnatural.
- These violent delights have violent ends.c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- and no violent state by his own Maxim, can be perpetual,1684-1690, Thomas Burnet, Sacred Theory of the Earth
- Acute, extreme, sharp.
- a violent headache
- Palace made it 3-1 on 81 minutes, Nketiah nipping in to finish nicely, then doing a no-celebration pose in front of the away fans. Nketiah grew up a couple of miles from the Den. It felt, at the very least, like a neighbourly overture, and in violent contrast to the opening act at the other end.2025 March 1, Barney Ronay, “Crystal Palace through after Millwall keeper’s red for head-high tackle on Mateta”, in The Guardian
Verb
violent (third-person singular simple present violents, present participle violenting, simple past and past participle violented)
Noun
violent (plural violents)
- An assailant.
- Did the Covetous extortioner observe that he is involv'd in the same sentence, [and] remember that such Violents shall take not heaven, but hell, by force.1667, Richard Allestree, The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety
violent meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
violent in Hindi
- involving extreme force or motion
- हिंसक hinsak, क्रूर krūr, उग्र ugra
- involving physical conflict
- हिंसक hinsak
- likely to use physical force
- हिंसक hinsak
violent in Tamil
- வன்முறையான
violent in Marathi
- हिंसक
violent in Urdu
- violent
- ہنساتمک hinsātmak
More languagesFewer languages
- violent in Bengali
- হিংস্র, হিংসাত্মক, উগ্র, প্রচণ্ড
- violent in Telugu
- అట్టహాసము aṭṭahāsamu, కర్కశము karkaśamu
- violent in Malayalam
- അക്രമപരമായ, പ്രബലമായ, ഹിംസാത്മകമായ, ഉഗ്രമായ
- violent in Kannada
- ರುದ್ರರಮಣೀಯ rudraramaṇīya
- violent in Punjabi
- تند tund, ਸਖ਼ਤ saxt
- violent in Gujarati
- હિંસક
- violent in Odia
- ହିଂସାତ୍ମକ
- violent in Sanskrit
- तविषीयु taviṣīyú, तेजस्विन् tejasvín, कठिन kaṭhina, निर्भर nirbhara
- violent in Nepali
- हिंसात्मक, हिंस्रक, हिंसक
- violent in Arabic
- عَنِيف ʕanīf
Examples of violent in a sentence
- We have already observed, that he was a very good-natured fellow, and he hath himself declared the violent attachment he had to the person and character of Jones […]1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
- Ease would recant / Vows made in pain, as violent and void.1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert...
Synonyms of violent
Antonyms
Forms of violent
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | violenter |
| comparative | more violent |
| superlative | violentest |
| superlative | most violent |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | violents |
| present participle | violenting |
| past participle | violented |
| past | violented |
| Noun | |
| plural | violents |
Origin of violent
From Middle English violent, from Old French violent, from Latin violentus, from vīs (“strength”). Displaced native Old English stræc. For the verb, compare French violenter.
Words formed from violent
Phrases with violent
Words that rhyme with violent
Questions about violent
- What does violent mean?
- Violent means involving extreme force or motion.
- What is violent in Hindi?
- Violent in Hindi is हिंसक (hinsak), क्रूर (krūr), उग्र (ugra). See Violent meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use violent in a sentence?
- We have already observed, that he was a very good-natured fellow, and he hath himself declared the violent attachment he had to the person and character of Jones […]
- What part of speech is violent?
- Violent can be an adjective, a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce violent?
- Violent is pronounced /ˈvaɪ.ə.lənt/.
Words near violent in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: violent (page history and authors); violent (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); violent (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ہنساتمک (Urdu) (page history and authors); violent (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); అట్టహాసము (Telugu) (page history and authors); violent (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ರುದ್ರರಮಣೀಯ (Kannada) (page history and authors); تند (Punjabi) (page history and authors); violent (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); violent (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); कठिन (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); violent (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-violent.ogg.
Cite this entry: “violent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/violent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.