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violent

vi·o·l·ent/ˈvaɪ.ə.lənt/adjective

violent is spelled V-I-O-L-E-N-T: 7 letters and 4 syllables (vi·o·l·ent). It appears 29 times per million words in written English, the 3,218th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, violent means “Involving extreme force or motion” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in violent?

Letters7: V-I-O-L-E-N-T
Syllables4: vi·o·l·ent
In writing29 times per million words; the 3,218th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is violent?

Violent appears 29 times per million words in written English, the 3,218th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce violent?

  • /ˈvaɪ.ə.lənt/
  • /ˈvaɪ.lənt/

Violent has 4 syllables, split vi·o·l·ent in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-violent.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of violent

  • violenter comparative
  • more violent comparative
  • violentest superlative
  • most violent superlative
  • violents present, singular, he/she/it
  • violenting participle, present
  • violented participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does violent mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Involving extreme force or motion.

    A violent wind ripped the branch from the tree.

  2. 2

    Involving physical conflict.

    We would rather negotiate, but we will use violent means if necessary.

  3. 3

    Likely to use physical force.

    The escaped prisoners are considered extremely violent.

  4. 4

    Intensely vivid.

    The artist expressed his emotional theme through violent colors.

  5. 5

    Produced or effected by force; not spontaneous; unnatural.

  6. 6

    Acute, extreme, sharp.

    a violent headache

verb

  1. 1

    archaicTo urge with violence.

noun

  1. 1

    obsoleteAn assailant.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Violent in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchviolent (involving extreme force or motion), vif (intensely vivid)
Germanheftig, gewaltig, brutal, gewalttätig (involving extreme force or motion), grell (intensely vivid), gewaltbereit (likely to use physical force)
Portugueseviolento (involving extreme force or motion)
Spanishviolento (involving extreme force or motion)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does violent come from?

From Middle English violent, from Old French violent, from Latin violentus, from vīs (“strength”). Displaced native Old English stræc. For the verb, compare French violenter.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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