1
as in fissures
an irregular usually narrow break in a surface created by pressure
a small rift opened in the earth's crust
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in gaps
an open space in a barrier (as a wall or hedge)
it was possible to peek through the rift in the fence and see the ball game
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rifts
Ahmed Al-Haj, Los Angeles Times, 3 Jan. 2026
The radio tower group climbs up through one of the rifts and finds themselves on Vecna’s chaos planet.
—Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 1 Jan. 2026
The story follows an all-new custom character — an Earth Directorate agent — tasked with uncovering what's causing destructive rifts that are spreading across the galaxy.
—Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 26 Dec. 2025
Outside of his lair, the world looks barren and deserted, save for a few glowing red rifts in the ground where the world is connected to the Upside Down.
—Katie Campione, Deadline, 25 Dec. 2025
More than a dozen employees at the Heritage Foundation left their posts over the weekend amid widening ideological rifts within the conservative movement and escalating internal tensions at the influential think tank.
—Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 22 Dec. 2025
Such a move will cause real rifts within the party.
—Khaleda Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2025
The European Union is also likely to take a strong role, though internal rifts have emerged within the EU regarding how aggressively to cut its own emissions.
—Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 4 Nov. 2025
Stranger Things season 5 will pick up the story in the fall of 1987 at a time when the military has placed the entire town of Hawkins under military quarantine over the rifts that emerged.
—Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
Noun
The airstrikes expose deepening rifts between Saudi Arabia and its former ally, as both compete for control and influence in Yemen’s civil war.
—Ahmed Al-Haj, Los Angeles Times, 3 Jan. 2026
The radio tower group climbs up through one of the rifts and finds themselves on Vecna’s chaos planet.
—Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 1 Jan. 2026
The story follows an all-new custom character — an Earth Directorate agent — tasked with uncovering what's causing destructive rifts that are spreading across the galaxy.
—Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 26 Dec. 2025
Outside of his lair, the world looks barren and deserted, save for a few glowing red rifts in the ground where the world is connected to the Upside Down.
—Katie Campione, Deadline, 25 Dec. 2025
More than a dozen employees at the Heritage Foundation left their posts over the weekend amid widening ideological rifts within the conservative movement and escalating internal tensions at the influential think tank.
—Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 22 Dec. 2025
Such a move will cause real rifts within the party.
—Khaleda Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2025
The European Union is also likely to take a strong role, though internal rifts have emerged within the EU regarding how aggressively to cut its own emissions.
—Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 4 Nov. 2025
Stranger Things season 5 will pick up the story in the fall of 1987 at a time when the military has placed the entire town of Hawkins under military quarantine over the rifts that emerged.
—Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rifts
Noun
-
Those fissures burst into the open last week, when Tucker Carlson conducted a friendly interview with the cheerfully white nationalist streamer Nick Fuentes.—
Max Tani,
semafor.com,
3 Nov. 2025
-
The journalist Beth Macy, who in her previous books chronicled the widening fissures in American society by examining the opioid crisis and the aftereffects of globalization, grew up there.—
Alex Kotlowitz,
The Atlantic,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
There were gaps and cracks at the metal flashing joints throughout the cook lines.—
Sacbee.com,
Sacbee.com,
7 Nov. 2025
-
As financial inequality widens, Vivian Tu, SoFi’s new Chief of Financial Empowerment is tackling the systemic gaps traditional advice ignores.—
Kimberly Wilson,
Essence,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
These pressures could produce a tsunami that fractures the state’s fiscal foundation, self-inflicts a crisis ultimately demanding drastic cuts, and cripples its competitiveness.—
Andrew Rein,
New York Daily News,
6 Jan. 2026
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The film’s emotional mirror — separation, misunderstanding, and the slow violence of misrepresentation — fractures its political one.—
Ana Gutierrez,
Austin American Statesman,
19 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
How To Keep Stink Bugs Out Stink bugs can squeeze into tight spaces between siding, crawl into cracks and crevices in window frames, and enter through open doors, windows, and vents.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
6 Nov. 2025
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The invasive beetles from Asia would burrow through bark, the females laying eggs in crevices.—
Frank Vaisvilas,
jsonline.com,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Officers saw multiple bullet holes on the metal fence dividing the properties and shell casings in his backyard, the affidavit said.—
Sofia Saric,
Miami Herald,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Add a pass rusher with the first pick, a receiver in Round 2 and then spend heavily on patching holes in free agency.—
Jacob Robinson,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Whatever pulls them together may also be the thing that tears them apart.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
30 Oct. 2025
-
First released in 2020 on South Africa’s M-Net, a division of MultiChoice, and now a Canal Plus company, the thriller about how a family tears itself apart in a succession battle built a huge fandom in South Africa and fame abroad.—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Heupel spreads out his receivers in an attempt to spread out the defense, then gashes them with the run.—
Seth Emerson,
New York Times,
10 Sep. 2025
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The pictures show scars and gashes around the dog's snout.—
Liz O'Connell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Eleven flies up to be face-to-face with the Mind Flayer, rips out his throat, jumps inside, and in one sleek-as-hell move, rips Vecna down from the Mind Flayer power source he’s been plugged into.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
1 Jan. 2026
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In the clip, Oshry, who welcomed her first son Reuben, with her husband, Ben Soffer, in May, reaches into her fridge to grab a head of cabbage, then rips open her animal-print bathrobe to show a compression bra stuffed with cabbage leaves.—
Cara Lynn Shultz,
PEOPLE,
16 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rifts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rifts. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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