INVIOLATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does inviolate mean? 

• INVIOLATE (adjective)
  The adjective INVIOLATE has 2 senses:

1. (of a woman) having the hymen unbroken

2. must be kept sacred

  Familiarity information: INVIOLATE used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INVIOLATE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(of a woman) having the hymen unbroken

Synonyms:

intact; inviolate

Context example:

she was intact, virginal

Similar:

uninjured (not injured physically or mentally)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Must be kept sacred

Synonyms:

inviolable; inviolate; sacrosanct

Similar:

sacred (concerned with religion or religious purposes)

 Context examples 

“On the contrary, my dear sir,” cried the King; “nothing could be more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

His wife and his mistress, until an hour ago secure and inviolate, were slipping precipitately from his control.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)