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riddled

verb

past tense of riddle
1
as in drilled
to make a hole or series of holes in several signs along the highway were riddled by buckshot

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in suffused
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. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of riddled Kunkel was found guilty in 1995 for the brutal 1986 murder of Gilbert Fassett, whose body was riddled with more than 100 stab wounds. — ABC News, 21 Sep. 2026 The findings show that the system is riddled with procedural obstacles. — Connor Sheets, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026 Photos shared with the jury during the Miami trial showed Moïse’s body riddled with a dozen high-caliber bullets. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 14 Sep. 2026 Soon, an Israeli checkpoint comes into view, where soldiers stand watch from the balconies of homes riddled with shrapnel. — Zeena Saifi, CNN Money, 3 Sep. 2026 There were respected former Metro homicide detectives Brent Becker and Dan Long, both gone gray, who had carried the burden of the unsolved murder, one riddled with conflicted characters on all sides. — John L. Smith, Rolling Stone, 2 Sep. 2026 But even that case was riddled with conspiracy theories, including one that accused Simpson’s son Jason of killing his stepmom and her friend. — Addie Morfoot, Variety, 28 Aug. 2026 Gardner remembers watching the film, in which Freeman’s Principal Clark turns around a New Jersey school riddled with crime, drugs and low test scores. — Darcel Rockett, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2026 For me, as a child grappling with loss, my imagination became my escape from a world that was riddled with confusion and injustice. — Literary Hub, 21 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for riddled
  1. drilled
  2. suffused
  3. pierced
  4. penetrated
  5. punched
  6. permeated
  7. punctured
  8. flooded
Verb
  • Youngquist has drilled large-diameter boreholes to depths exceeding 8,000 feet.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Luna 16 drilled about 35 centimeters into the moon to collect its core sample.
    — Tariq Malik, Space.com, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of drilled
Verb
  • After setting her wildly popular debut The Tiger's Wife in a Balkans suffused with myth and magic, the author turned in subsequent books to the Old West and a city redolent of New York.
    — Colin Dwyer, NPR, 4 Aug. 2026
  • The threat is still there, suffused into the air like a memory, but for a time the choice between love and survival no longer feels mutually exclusive to Nino and Yasmina.
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 22 July 2026
Definition of suffused
Verb
  • In 1998, while a student at Gordonstoun, Princess Anne’s daughter Zara Tindall (née Phillips), shocked the nation by getting her tongue pierced at a tattoo parlour in Moray, Scotland.
    — Eva Wolchover, Vanity Fair, 21 Sep. 2026
  • The anticipation builds until the silence is pierced by the curling cry of the ancient instrument.
    — Ben Corn, Christian Science Monitor, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of pierced
Verb
  • Foremost among these is Google, whose Chromebook laptops and Google Workspace for Education software have penetrated a super-majority of districts; Apple and Microsoft’s devices and classroom software hold a more modest share of the K-12 market.
    — Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Players reported being penetrated with the handles of disposable razors and having their pubic hair burned with blowtorches.
    — Austin Meek, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of penetrated
Verb
  • One punched him in the face, and another stabbed him once in the buttocks, police said.
    — Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 14 Sep. 2026
  • After the Giants punched their ticket by sweeping two games from the Ports, Haines confirmed that Flora would take the ball one more time in next week’s best-of-3 series against Lake Elsinore.
    — Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of punched
Verb
  • For both job seekers and employers, AI has already permeated almost every step of the hiring process, from evaluating resumes to writing cover letters.
    — Sophie Caldwell Juhohn Lee, CNBC, 16 Sep. 2026
  • The Delta flight, which was carrying 235 people, had safely made an emergency landing after a smoky smell permeated the cabin.
    — Daysia Tolentino, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of permeated
Verb
  • As anxiety punctured the tranquility of the suburb, questions bubbled up on everything from the community’s water and pesticide use to abandoned oil wells underneath.
    — Julia Vargas Jones, CNN Money, 20 Sep. 2026
  • For especially delicate foods, make sure the toothpicks are secure and don’t touch anything that could be punctured or contaminated.
    — Caroline Lubinsky, Martha Stewart, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of punctured
Verb
  • Spacious and flooded with natural light, thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows, the rooms lean into a soothing palette of cool grays, warm wood accents, and pops of yellow.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Heavy downpours drenched parts of northern Broward County on Thursday, causing treacherous driving conditions as rain flooded streets and roads.
    — Joan Murray, CBS News, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of flooded

Browse Nearby Words

riddle
riddled
riddled (out)
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Cite this Entry

“Riddled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/riddled. Accessed 23 Sep. 2026.

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