violent

adjective

vi·​o·​lent ˈvī-ə-lənt 

1

a(1)

: marked by the use of usually harmful or destructive physical force

a violent attack

violent crime

The peaceful demonstration turned violent.

(2)

: showing or including violence

violent movies

b

: extremely powerful or forceful and capable of causing damage

violent storms

violent coughing

2

: caused by physical force or violence : not natural

a violent death

3

a

: emotionally agitated to the point of using harmful physical force

became violent after an insult

b

: prone to commit acts of violence

violent prison inmates

4

a

: notably forceful, furious, or vehement

a violent argument

a violent denunciation

b

: extreme, intense

violent pain

violent colors

violently adverb

Synonyms

• bang-bang
• blood-and-guts
• convulsive
• cyclonic
• explosive
• ferocious
• fierce
• furious
• hammer-and-tongs
• hot
• knock-down, drag-out
• knock-down-and-drag-out
• paroxysmal
• rabid
• rough
• stormy
• tempestuous
• tumultuous
• turbulent
• volcanic

Examples of violent in a Sentence

They witnessed a violent struggle between police and protesters.

The peaceful protest suddenly turned violent.

The city has experienced an increase in violent crime in the past year.

The final scene was extremely violent.

She suffered a violent death in a car accident.

The patient suddenly became violent and had to be restrained.

He's not a particularly violent person.

Recent Examples on the Web

Long before 17-year-old Solomon Henderson walked into his school cafeteria with a gun, authorities in Tennessee were alerted to his threatening and violent behavior. —Aliyya Swaby, ProPublica, 8 Feb. 2025

What's This? February 7, 2025 Quentin Tarantino is a filmmaker with a full deck of calling cards: stylistic, verbose and unapologetically violent. —Paul Fitzgerald, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2025

Those villains, led by Giancarlo Esposito's Sidewinder, now appear as highly skilled and incredibly violent mercenaries hired to steal samples of the indestructible metal known as adamantium for an unknown buyer. —Nick Romano, EW.com, 7 Feb. 2025

But over time, his use of symbols and rhetoric have grown more extreme and more violent — so much so that it’s gotten hard to keep track — and further gotten hard to tell how much of this is irony, how much of it is innocence, and how much of it is a sincere embrace of white supremacist rhetoric. —Aja Romano, Vox, 7 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin violentus; akin to Latin vis strength — more at vim

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

Phrases Containing violent

• violent storm

Kids Definition

violent

adjective

vi·​o·​lent ˈvī-ə-lənt 

1

: marked by great force or sudden activity

a violent attack of coughing

violent storms

2

a

: especially furious or emotional

a violent denial of guilt

b

: intense sense 1

violent pain

3

: caused by force

a violent death

4

a

: acting with or characterized by harmful physical force : exercising or marked by violence

a violent person

violent actions

b

: having a tendency to carry out acts of violence

violent prison inmates

violently adverb