The present work was aimed to evaluate the removal of methyl violet dye by potassium hydroxide-treated palm kernel shell sorbents. The sorbents were prepared by dried impregnation, carbonization and chemical activation in a muffle furnace. The sorbents were characterized for specific surface area, surface morphology and functional groups. Resultsshow that the activated carbon displayed a specific surface area of 302 m 2 /g, which was 54 times greater than the impregnated sorbent. However, the latter showed a 42 mg/g maximum adsorption capacity of methyl violet, nearly 4 times better than the former. The equilibrium data was fitted well with the Langmuir isotherm, while the rate of sorption data obeyed the pseudo-second-order model. Adsorption of methyl violet was not specific surface areadependent. The rate-limiting step for methyl violet adsorption was mainly driven by film diffusion at lower concentration, and intraparticle diffusion at higher concentration. A simple impregnation using potassium hydroxide was a promising approach to yield sorbent rich in acidic groups for methyl violet removal.