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Synonyms

ridden

1 American  
[rid-n] / ˈrɪd n /

verb

  1. a past participle of ride.

-ridden 2 American  

  1. a combining form meaning “obsessed with,” “overwhelmed by” (torment-ridden ) or “full of,” “burdened with” (debt-ridden ).

ridden British  
/ ˈrɪdən /

verb

  1. the past participle of ride

"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

adjective

  1. (in combination) afflicted, affected, or dominated by something specified

    damp-ridden

    disease-ridden
"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

Other Word Forms

  • unridden adjective
  • well-ridden adjective

Etymology

Origin of -ridden

Special use of ridden

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He said that hundreds of thousands of festivalgoers have ridden the attractions over the last 15 years.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026

Nicky Henderson's Jango Baie, winner of last year's Arkle Chase, will be ridden by Nico de Boinville.

From BBC • Mar. 11, 2026

He has ridden Harley-Davidson motorcycles with a group of other Roadhouse employees for 20 plus years; one year they rode from NY to California.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

The former product instructor from the San Francisco Bay Area has ridden the tech wave throughout his career, easily jumping from Verizon to Fitbit to Workday.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2026

"With your permission—" José Duarte has joined a group of little boys who have come out of nowhere and are milling around the car, boasting how many automobiles they have ridden in.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.