rive

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as in to rip
to cause (something) to separate into jagged pieces by violently pulling at it the bitter disappointment threatened to rive my heart in two

Synonyms & Similar Words

Synonym Chooser

How is the word rive different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of rive are cleave, rend, rip, split, and tear. While all these words mean "to separate forcibly," rive occurs most often in figurative use.

a political party riven by conflict

In what contexts can cleave take the place of rive?

The words cleave and rive are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, cleave implies very forceful splitting or cutting with a blow.

a bolt of lightning cleaved the giant oak

When would rend be a good substitute for rive?

The words rend and rive can be used in similar contexts, but rend implies very violent or ruthless severing or sundering.

an angry mob rent the prisoner's clothes

Where would rip be a reasonable alternative to rive?

While the synonyms rip and rive are close in meaning, rip implies a pulling apart in one rapid uninterrupted motion often along a line or joint.

ripped the shirt on a nail

When is it sensible to use split instead of rive?

The meanings of split and rive largely overlap; however, split implies a cutting or breaking apart in a continuous, straight, and usually lengthwise direction or in the direction of grain or layers.

split logs for firewood

When might tear be a better fit than rive?

In some situations, the words tear and rive are roughly equivalent. However, tear implies pulling apart by force and leaving jagged edges.

tear up the letter

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 rive His job: to help foster collaboration and bring about fresh agreement in a world riven by populist nationalists intent on driving climate change down the global priority list. Justin Worland, TIME, 14 Feb. 2025 Online scam factories – many run by Chinese crime syndicates – have proliferated in Myanmar, which has been riven by a bloody civil war since the military seized power in 2021. Kocha Olarn, CNN, 5 Feb. 2025 Abdullah Rashid / Reuters file The visit, the first such trip to Iraq by a sitting pope, was at the time considered to be dangerous, with Iraq long riven by sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni Muslims. David Hodari, NBC News, 18 Dec. 2024 Now the scramble is on to define the future of Syria, quickly, to prevent ethnic, political, and sectarian rivalries from triggering a war even more divisive than the conflict that has riven the nation for thirteen years. Robin Wright, The New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for rive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rive
Verb
  • Light pollution disrupts animal behavior, interrupts plant cycles, and affects human health.
    Valerie Stimac, Forbes.com, 16 May 2025
  • Body temperatures reaching 104 degrees Fahrenheit can cause heatstroke, a condition that disrupts biological processes throughout the body.
    Sanket Jain, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 May 2025
Verb
  • An 18-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of ripping down the flag.
    Ishani Desai, Sacbee.com, 12 May 2025
  • Astronomers have caught a black hole far from the center of its home galaxy ripping a star to shreds — providing, for the first time, direct evidence of a rogue supermassive black hole in action.
    Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 9 May 2025
Verb
  • Most of them lasted for about one microsecond before breaking apart.
    George Petras, USA Today, 17 May 2025
  • Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
    Dalton Ross, EW.com, 16 May 2025
Verb
  • Photos show damage after storms tear through Kentucky, Missouri, Virginia Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, Zac Anderson; USA TODAY Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY.
    Julia Gomez, USA Today, 19 May 2025
  • The Context The outbreak in Kansas follows a devastating storm system that tore through parts of the U.S. over the weekend, resulting in at least 25 fatalities, CNN reported.
    Joe Edwards, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 May 2025
Verb
  • Brubaker fractured his ribs in spring training, and other injuries, including Tommy John surgery, have kept him out of the majors since 2022.
    Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 18 May 2025
  • When a parent abuses a child, the experience can be too horrible to bear, so that what happens is that the core of the child’s identity gets fractured.
    Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 16 May 2025
Verb
  • Dallas keeps bringing up last year’s six-game win over Colorado in an apparent effort to buck up themselves and their despondent fans, who are rending their garments over a meaningless seven-game losing streak to end the season.
    Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2025
  • The Seagull The season’s starriest show is Chekhov’s rending play about art, love and loss in a new version from Duncan Macmillan and Thomas Ostermeier, with Ostermeier directing.
    Matt Wolf, New York Times, 3 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • The expansion of human populations into the wildland-urban interface further fragments bear habitats, displacing the animals and forcing them into closer contact with humans.
    Benjamin Alva Polley, Rolling Stone, 10 May 2025
  • If the media environment is fragmented, so, too, is the Democratic resistance itself: split, as Kang wrote in this column, in February, among incompatible strategic impulses; severed from a discredited Party establishment but uncertain where to go next; fundamentally leaderless.
    Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 9 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Rive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rive. Accessed 22 May. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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