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
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Recent Examples of riddle
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 17 Apr. 2026
As if she’d been presented with a tidy, screw-like riddle from the Sphynx.
—Literary Hub, 2 Apr. 2026
Mark Dent, HubSpot, 8 May 2026
Families riddled with dementia DIAN is made up of families like Ward's.
—Jon Hamilton, NPR, 7 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for riddle
Noun
But where The Pitt centered Robby’s trauma and self-loathing and spun character interactions and relationships off of it all season long, Al-Hashimi was first a riddle to be solved, then a problem to be addressed.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 17 Apr. 2026
As if she’d been presented with a tidy, screw-like riddle from the Sphynx.
—Literary Hub, 2 Apr. 2026
Verb
Major cities, like Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, are riddled with thousands of condo units and single-family homes that serve no economic purpose.
—Mark Dent, HubSpot, 8 May 2026
Families riddled with dementia DIAN is made up of families like Ward's.
—Jon Hamilton, NPR, 7 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for riddle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for riddle
Noun
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Guests will also get to explore topics such as liberal Zionism and the connection between food and memory, and participate in a Sermon Slam, crafting mini-sermons from mystery prompts.—
Jessica Tzikas,
Sun Sentinel,
14 May 2026
-
Not every summer movie needs to be a mystery that unfolds hallway after hallway, with a creature hiding around every corner ready to pop out.—
Tracy Brown,
Los Angeles Times,
14 May 2026
Verb
-
Both candidates were the only ones to say California should resume offshore drilling.—
Ben Paviour,
Sacbee.com,
15 May 2026
-
Cape Station entails drilling wells 10,000 feet deep—about 2 miles—and then directionally drilling horizontally another 7,500 feet to create adequately sized reservoirs, and fracking (hydraulic fracturing) the rock to release the flows of water naturally heated to more than 400 degrees.—
Jordan Blum,
Fortune,
14 May 2026
Verb
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Their enormous talons penetrate deeply into tissue, while the bird’s powerful flexor muscles clamp down with immense force.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2026
-
The precision strike successfully penetrated defenses that had been held for years.—
Emma Bussey,
FOXNews.com,
17 May 2026
Noun
-
Thank you again from all the Daily News readers who do her puzzles.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
14 May 2026
-
Check out the all-new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!—
Saman Shafiq,
USA Today,
14 May 2026
Verb
-
Gabrielle’s unflinching competence and dynamism belie acute sensitivity, and the actress allows hints of child-like hurt and hesitation to pierce the carapace.—
Jon Frosch,
HollywoodReporter,
13 May 2026
-
Because errors constantly occurred and changes were frequently made to the code, Hamilton sometimes edited the printout by hand by sealing excess holes with clear tape or piercing missing ones in the paper tape with a sharp pencil.—
Manon Bischoff,
Scientific American,
12 May 2026
Verb
-
The Meltdown is suffused with the visual and audio textures of horror, and deliberately so.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
12 May 2026
-
Warnings, laments, and odes to renewal were expressed pictorially as dying days under bleeding heavens, belching volcanoes, proud icebergs, lavish rainbows amid spangling, mist-suffusing sunlight and dawns of peace and hope.—
Sebastian Smee,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
Noun
-
Affordable housing in California has been an enigma that requires more than just oversight, but a major overhaul in streamlining the process, reducing the red tape and encouraging both for-profit and non-profit developers to ply their trade.—
Linh Tat,
Oc Register,
4 May 2026
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The sudden departure of new cast member Helena Bonham Carter just days into shooting has become the first great enigma of this season, leaving the French Riviera production in a scenario as uncertain as one of Mike White's scripts.—
Diego Parrado,
Vanity Fair,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The investigation determined that Castillo used his control panel to unlock the third inmate’s cell, and in his line of sight, the pair pulled open the door, entered the cell and proceeded to punch and kick the victim.—
Robert Salonga,
Mercury News,
19 May 2026
-
Two inmates punched and kicked the victim for about 30 seconds in his cell, while a third inmate stood guard.—
Tim Fang,
CBS News,
19 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Riddle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/riddle. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
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