inviolable
adjective
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Inviolable is a venerable word that has been with us since the 15th century. Its opposite, violable ("capable of being or likely to be violated"), appeared in the following century. The 17th century English playwright Shackerley Marmion made good use of violable in A Fine Companion, writing, "Alas, my heart is Tender and violable with the least weapon Sorrow can dart at me." But English speakers have never warmed up to that word the way we have to inviolable, and it continues to be used much less frequently. Both terms descend from the Latin verb violare, which both shares the meaning with, and is an ancestor of, the English word violate.
Synonyms
Examples of inviolable in a Sentence
Marc A. Thiessen, Washington Post, 8 July 2024
Today, in the wake of Russia’s aggression, China’s belligerence and the growing cooperation between the world’s revanchist regimes, the time has come to strengthen NATO with new members, inviolable spending commitments and consequences for failing to meet them.
—Marc A. Thiessen, Washington Post, 8 July 2024
Or that art may be the last untrodden and inviolable way of the psyche remaining to us?
—John Ganz, Harper's Magazine, 22 May 2024
Further, in recent weeks, many universities have demonstrated that norms are not an inviolable constraint on their actions, dispensing with preexisting practices regarding student speech and protest — or even rewriting official rules — so as to discipline Pro-Palestinian advocacy.
—Eric Levitz, Vox, 15 May 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Inviolable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inviolable. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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inviolable
adjective
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