violated

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of violate.

   The treaty was violated within months of being signed.

   Inspectors found that several safety rules had been violated.

   Note

   A regular past form, one spelling doing two jobs: they violated the terms is simple past, and the terms were violated or had been violated is the participle. The participle also carries the verb's slang prison sense, so a parolee who was violated has been cited for breaking parole, not assaulted. Once it takes more or most, it has become the broken-rule adjective.

2. 2
   adjective

   Having been broken or ignored, especially in a blatant and flagrant way.

   The repeatedly violated ceasefire offered little hope for peace.

   Citizens protested the violated constitution and demanded reform.

   Similarbroken

   Oppositerespected, observed, honored

3. 3
   adjective

   Abused, harmed, or subjected to sexual victimization.

   Survivors often describe feeling deeply violated long after the assault.

   The violated prisoners testified about their treatment in the camp.

   Similarabused

   Note

   Here the word moves from rules to people. What began as a description of a broken law or agreement is extended to a person who has been wronged. The verb it comes from already carries the meaning "to rape", so the sexual sense is part of the word's own range, not only a figure of speech. Context decides how heavy it reads, and it rarely reads lightly.

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