違約

简 违约 · 繁 違約
Mandarin · pinyin wéi yuē

Meanings

  1. to break a promise
  2. to violate an agreement
  3. to default (on a loan or contract)
Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

違
Look up this written character
約
yuē · treaty, agreement, covenant
违
wéi · disobey, violate, defy; be apart from
约
yuē · treaty, agreement, covenant
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–1 · wei2 yue1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

3character links
Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

違約 · find source passages ↗ · 违约 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

wai4 joek3

Cantonese word readings for 違約. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

verb

  1. (verb-object) to breach a contract; to violate an agreement; to break a promise

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack