: split apart
riven wood [=wood split apart along the grain]
: divided into pieces or factions
a riven nation
… beautifully nuanced portraits of a riven people, separated by more than an ocean.—
Mylène Dressler
Mylène DresslerExamples of riven in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The school was poorly funded, riven by gang violence, and deeply segregated by race and class.
—Gioia Woods, Literary Hub, 6 Feb. 2026
Janus, Lord of winter and beginnings, riven and shaken with two faces,
watcher at the gates of winds and cities,
god of the wakeful;
keep me from coldhanded envy,
and petty anger.
—Gwen Faulkenberry, Arkansas Online, 8 Jan. 2026
The Venezuelan opposition has always been riven with divisions.
—Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 5 Jan. 2026
Still then as a teenager, bloodless and senseless, skidding
another riven diagram
into the dust.
—Imogen Cassels, The Atlantic, 7 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for riven
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Gioia Woods, Literary Hub, 6 Feb. 2026
Janus, Lord of winter and beginnings, riven and shaken with two faces,
watcher at the gates of winds and cities,
god of the wakeful;
keep me from coldhanded envy,
and petty anger.
—Gwen Faulkenberry, Arkansas Online, 8 Jan. 2026
The Venezuelan opposition has always been riven with divisions.
—Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 5 Jan. 2026
Still then as a teenager, bloodless and senseless, skidding
another riven diagram
into the dust.
—Imogen Cassels, The Atlantic, 7 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for riven
Cite this Entry
“Riven.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/riven. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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