as in mystery
something hard to understand or explain
his motives for starting an argument with the coach were a complete riddle
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in to drill
to make a hole or series of holes in
several signs along the highway were riddled by buckshot
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to penetrate
to spread throughout
the newspaper exposé revealed a gaming commission that is riddled with corruption
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of riddle
Harrison Jacobs, ARTnews.com, 24 Mar. 2025
Understandably, the women try to solve the riddle while battling their own demons.
—Marta Balaga, Variety, 24 Mar. 2025
Newsweek, 18 Mar. 2025
Besides criticizing Social Security, Musk and Trump have charged the program is riddled with fraud.
—David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 17 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for riddle
Noun
But for those without this context, the work becomes a kind of riddle or rebus.
—Harrison Jacobs, ARTnews.com, 24 Mar. 2025
Understandably, the women try to solve the riddle while battling their own demons.
—Marta Balaga, Variety, 24 Mar. 2025
Verb
Atlanta's run of six consecutive National League East titles ended last year amid a season riddled with injuries to many of the team's best players, including reigning National League Most Valuable Player Ronald Acuña Jr.
—Newsweek, 18 Mar. 2025
Besides criticizing Social Security, Musk and Trump have charged the program is riddled with fraud.
—David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 17 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for riddle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for riddle
Noun
-
All the Europeans trying to get into WWE was such a mystery about it.—
Raja Krishnamoorthi,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 Apr. 2025
-
But for 130 years, the location of the infamous roots was a mystery.—
Eli Wizevich,
Smithsonian Magazine,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
The same rescission notice mentions another Biden-era rule that established stronger protections against drilling in the Western Arctic.—
Dac Collins,
Outdoor Life,
16 Apr. 2025
-
Much of the remaining top-tier inventory is already drilled.—
Dan Eberhart,
Forbes.com,
14 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Since most boar spears had cross-guard features near the spearhead, this was often used to trigger the gun once the spear had penetrated the prey.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
12 Apr. 2025
-
Not so much playing laterally, two-gapping or even penetrating in gaps.—
Dan Wiederer,
Chicago Tribune,
12 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
The next puzzle will be available at midnight in your time zone.—
Mark Cooper,
New York Times,
28 Mar. 2025
-
Yet the organization that cracks this puzzle, delivering a holistic, user-friendly experience at scale, could seize a massive share of the consumer finance market.—
Zennon Kapron,
Forbes.com,
28 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
To get an empty eggshell, pierce small holes on either end of a fresh, raw egg with a needle and gently blow the contents out into a bowl.—
Annabelle Canela,
Parents,
16 Apr. 2025
-
Wolf, Puss in Boots’s big villain, had piercing red eyes; Sinners’s villain Remmick (Jack O’Connell) has piercing red eyes.—
Alejandra Gularte,
Vulture,
14 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Today, jazz suffuses the city so completely that the genre is embedded in funeral traditions here, as brass bands often accompany mourners from the church to the cemetery in a celebratory display.—
Nicholas DeRenzo,
AFAR Media,
21 Mar. 2025
-
The rhythmic and narrative thrust of Khan’s Kathak suffuses everything.—
Jennifer Homans,
The New Yorker,
10 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
The Kansas City Royals are a bit of an enigma right now.—
Jaylon Thompson,
Kansas City Star,
13 Apr. 2025
-
Piper and Timothy go through transformative experiences over the season, but Saxon, Lochlan, and Victoria remain enigmas to each other and the viewer.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
7 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Inside the courtroom, supporters of For Women Scotland cheered, punched the air, hugged and cried.—
Lauren Frayer,
NPR,
16 Apr. 2025
-
My job involved taking a frying pan cover off a conveyor belt, using a press to punch a hole, attaching a fly wheel and returning the finished product to the conveyor belt.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
16 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Riddle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/riddle. Accessed 21 Apr. 2025.
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