violet

Syllables: vi·o·let/ˈvaɪ.ə.lət/

violet noun: a plant or flower of the genus Viola, especially the fragrant Viola odorata; (inexact) similar-looking plants and flowers.

Image: H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

violet (plural violets)

A plant or flower of the genus Viola, especially the fragrant Viola odorata; (inexact) similar-looking plants and flowers.
- Refreshed by their cooling bath of evening dew, the violets and other nocturnal flowers emitted a pleasant fragrance over the fields, but from the bogs and the rivulets came up now and then damp, penetrating gusts, that sent an icy chill through me.1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 160
- Albertus Magnus, the thirteenth century philosopher and occultist, states that coriander, valerian, and violet are love producing herbs.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 68
Synonyms:

rooster
(figuratively) A person thought to resemble V. odorata, especially in its beauty and delicacy.
- ‘Tom,’ he said, ‘you are looking at a crushed violet, a spent egg, a squeezed tube.’1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 13
The color of most violets; the colour evoked by the shortest visible wavelengths between 380 and 435 nm, an additive tertiary colour.
Clothes and (ecclesiastical) vestments of such a colour.
(perfumes) The characteristic scent of V. odorata.
(UK, dialectal) Synonym of onion (“vegetable”).

Synonyms:

onion

Adjective

violet (comparative violeter, superlative violetest)

Of a violet colour.

Proper noun capitalized: Violet

Violet

A female given name from English.
- It may be as well to say, by way of parenthesis, that her real name was Violante,―at least, such was the name by which her mother had her christened. But her father thought it much too long, and said it was better to call her Violet.1836, Marian Dora Malet Beasley, Violet Woodville, Carey, Lea & Blanchard, page 16
- Her Pakeha name was Violet, and everybody called her that because her Maori name was too long. And my Nanny, she was just like a violet; shy and small and hiding her face in her petals if the sun blazed too strong.1972, Witi Ihimaera, Pounamu, Pounamu, Heinemann, →ISBN, page 111
A surname.
A census-designated place in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.
An unincorporated community in Polk County, Missouri.
An unincorporated community in Nueces County, Texas.
An unincorporated community in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
A community in Loyalist, Lennox and Addington County, Ontario, Canada.

violet meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

violet in Hindi

plant: बनफ़्शा banafśā, बनफशा banaphśā
having a bluish-purple color: बनफ्शई banaphśaī

violet in Urdu

plant: بنفشه
colour: ارغوانی رنگ arġwāni raṉg

violet in Bengali

plant: গুলবনফ্শা gulbônôfśa
colour: বেগুনী beguni
having a bluish-purple color: বেগুনি beguni, বেগুনী beguni

More languagesFewer languages

violet in Telugu: ఊదా ūdā
violet in Malayalam: വയലറ്റ് vayalaṟṟŭ
violet in Kannada: ನೇರಳೆಯ ಬಣ್ಣ, ಜಾಂಬಳಿ
violet in Punjabi: ਊਦਾ ūdā
violet in Gujarati: બનફશા banaphśā
violet in Odia: ଭାଯ଼ୋଲେଟ୍
violet in Assamese: বেঙুনীয়া beṅunia
violet in Nepali: भायोलेट
violet in Pashto: چوڼيا čuṇyâ
violet in Tagalog: biyoleta, aleli, ube, kulay ube
violet in Arabic: بَنَفْسَج banafsaj, بَنَفْسَجِيّ banafsajiyy
violet in Malay: lembayung
violet in Persian: بنفشه banafše, بنفش banafš, بنفشهای banafše-'i
violet in Thai: สีม่วง, ไวโอเล็ต wai-oo-lèt, ม่วง mûuang
violet in Vietnamese: tím
violet in Myanmar: ခရမ်းရောင် hka.ram:raung

Examples of violet in a sentence

June, no shrinking violet she, crossed the room and introduced herself to the newcomers.
Her African violets weren't getting enough sun and became rangy.
Hair like gold, and eyes as'd put blue violets to shame.

All 40 example sentences with violet

Synonyms of violet

All synonyms of violet

Forms of violet

Noun
plural	violets
Adjective
comparative	violeter
superlative	violetest

Plural of violet: violets

Origin of violet

Inherited from Middle English violet, vyolet, vyolette, from Old French violette, from Latin viola (“violet”) + -ette. Cognate with Lithuanian violetinė (“purple, violet”) and Spanish violeta (“purple, violet”).

A 19th century flower name from violet, sometimes as an anglicisation of the earlier French Violette.

Words formed from violet

Phrases with violet

45 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with violet

Questions about violet

What does violet mean?: Violet means a plant or flower of the genus Viola, especially the fragrant Viola odorata; (inexact) similar-looking plants and flowers.
What is violet in Hindi?: Violet in Hindi is बनफ़्शा (banafśā), बनफशा (banaphśā), बनफ्शई (banaphśaī). See Violet meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is violet?: Violet can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce violet?: Violet is pronounced /ˈvaɪ.ə.lət/ (UK).
What is the plural of violet?: The plural of violet is violets.

Words near violet in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: violet (page history and authors); Violet (page history and authors); violet (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); വയലറ്റ് (Malayalam) (page history and authors); violet (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਊਦਾ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); બનફશા (Gujarati) (page history and authors); violet (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); violet (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-violet.ogg.

Cite this entry: “violet.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/violet. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.