riddle
1a question or statement so framed as to exercise one's ingenuity in answering it or discovering its meaning; conundrum.
a puzzling question, problem, or matter.
a puzzling thing or person.
any enigmatic or dark saying or speech.
to propound riddles; speak enigmatically.
Origin of riddle
1synonym study For riddle
Words Nearby riddle
Other definitions for riddle (2 of 2)
to pierce with many holes, suggesting those of a sieve: to riddle the target.
to fill or affect with (something undesirable, weakening, etc.): a government riddled with graft.
to impair or refute completely by persistent verbal attacks: to riddle a person's reputation.
to sift through a riddle, as gravel; screen.
a coarse sieve, as one for sifting sand in a foundry.
Origin of riddle
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use riddle in a sentence
Dickinson did this as a game and a test—she loved riddles and turned herself into a riddle wrapped in her own lines.
Sor Juana: Mexico’s Most Erotic Poet and Its Most Dangerous Nun | Katie Baker | November 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe question, almost akin to a riddle, is certainly a relevant one to anybody in a creative field.
Able-bodied people rarely notice the barriers that riddle the world which keep the disabled from participating in society.
When Scott Kleinberg wrote about the riddle for The Chicago Tribune, he changed the answer.
Facebook Profile Pictures Taken Over by Giraffes: Behind the Invasion | Susanna Speier | November 1, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTSome will send paragraph-long descriptions of why the riddle is ‘flawed.’
Facebook Profile Pictures Taken Over by Giraffes: Behind the Invasion | Susanna Speier | November 1, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Men of science strove to read the riddle of life; to guide and to succour their fellow creatures.
God and my Neighbour | Robert BlatchfordTo him who flees love, its nature is explicable; to you, who are still under its influence, it remains a riddle.
Chaucer's Works, Volume 1 (of 7) -- Romaunt of the Rose; Minor Poems | Geoffrey ChaucerIt was on them that I began to spell out those signs which to the learned reveal a few faint traces of the Mighty riddle.
Marguerite | Anatole FranceThe dossier is not complete, but, such as it is, it furnishes a riddle in which the supernatural appears to play a part.
A Thin Ghost and Others | M. R. (Montague Rhodes) JamesI like secrets—especially those which concern women—well enough to have amused myself by seeking the clue to the riddle.
At the Sign of the Cat and Racket | Honore de Balzac
British Dictionary definitions for riddle (1 of 2)
/ (ˈrɪdəl) /
a question, puzzle, or verse so phrased that ingenuity is required for elucidation of the answer or meaning; conundrum
a person or thing that puzzles, perplexes, or confuses; enigma
to solve, explain, or interpret (a riddle or riddles)
(intr) to speak in riddles
Origin of riddle
1Derived forms of riddle
- riddler, noun
British Dictionary definitions for riddle (2 of 2)
/ (ˈrɪdəl) /
(usually foll by with) to pierce or perforate with numerous holes: riddled with bullets
to damage or impair
to put through a sieve; sift
to fill or pervade: the report was riddled with errors
a sieve, esp a coarse one used for sand, grain, etc
Origin of riddle
2Derived forms of riddle
- riddler, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse