What does violable mean?
Violable is a formal adjective meaning capable of being violated, broken, or infringed. It is especially useful when discussing laws, rights, treaties, agreements, boundaries, or other commitments that are not absolutely protected. A law may be violable because it can be broken; similarly, a right may be violable because an individual or institution can infringe it. The word is not synonymous with simply fragile or breakable in a physical sense. Its main contrast is with inviolable, which means impossible or not permissible to violate. In ordinary conversation, people are more likely to say breakable, vulnerable, or legally enforceable, depending on the context. Violable is therefore valuable chiefly in precise legal and political prose, where it draws attention to the possibility of a rule being breached while avoiding the stronger claim that the rule is inviolable.
adjectiveCapable of being violated, broken, or infringed. Usually used formally in legal and political contexts to describe rights, agreements, laws, or boundaries that may be breached.
- Capable of being violated, broken, or infringed.
"The committee warned that the new regulations could not be treated as inviolable because several of their provisions were violable."
"The court ruled that the treaty contained no violable provisions without the consent of both governments."
"Even the most carefully drafted contract may include obligations that are legally violable."
Violable is the legal-minded opposite of inviolable: it names the rights, promises, and boundaries that can be breached.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does violable come from?
Violable comes from Latin violabilis, meaning “capable of being violated” or “liable to violation.” It is formed within the Latin word family associated with violare, “to violate, injure, or outrage,” which also underlies English words such as violate, violation, and violator. English adopted the adjective during the early modern period, when Latin legal and philosophical vocabulary was widely adapted. The related English adjective violent ultimately belongs to the same Latin etymological family, although its modern meanings are considerably more specialized.
Related word forms
How violable is actually used
This is a formal and relatively uncommon word, especially outside legal, political, and academic writing. It is more common in British and American English than many traditional dictionary users might expect, but it remains much less frequent than the related noun violation.
Easily confused with violable
A violable agreement may legally be broken, whereas an inviolable agreement is considered impossible or impermissible to violate.
Violable describes something that can be violated, while violative describes conduct or a rule that itself tends to violate rights or laws.