riddle

¹ American  

[rid-l] / ˈrɪd l /

noun

1. a question or statement so framed as to exercise one's ingenuity in answering it or discovering its meaning; conundrum.

2. a puzzling question, problem, or matter.

3. a puzzling thing or person.

4. any enigmatic or dark saying or speech.

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verb (used without object)

riddled, riddling

1. to propound riddles; speak enigmatically.

riddle ² American  

[rid-l] / ˈrɪd l /

verb (used with object)

riddled, riddling

1. to pierce with many holes, suggesting those of a sieve.

   to riddle the target.

2. to fill or affect with (something undesirable, weakening, etc.).

   a government riddled with graft.

3. to impair or refute completely by persistent verbal attacks.

   to riddle a person's reputation.

4. to sift through a riddle, as gravel; screen.

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noun

1. a coarse sieve, as one for sifting sand in a foundry.

riddle ¹ British  

/ ˈrɪdəl /

verb

1. (usually foll by with) to pierce or perforate with numerous holes

   riddled with bullets

2. to damage or impair

3. to put through a sieve; sift

4. to fill or pervade

   the report was riddled with errors

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noun

1. a sieve, esp a coarse one used for sand, grain, etc

riddle ² British  

/ ˈrɪdəl /

noun

1. a question, puzzle, or verse so phrased that ingenuity is required for elucidation of the answer or meaning; conundrum

2. a person or thing that puzzles, perplexes, or confuses; enigma

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verb

1. to solve, explain, or interpret (a riddle or riddles)

2. (intr) to speak in riddles

Synonym Usage

See puzzle.

Other Word Forms

• riddler
  noun

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Etymology

Origin of riddle¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English noun redel, redels, Old English rǣdels(e) “counsel, opinion, imagination, riddle” + -els(e) noun suffix; cognate with German Rätsel, Dutch raadsel; see also rede

Origin of riddle²

First recorded before 1100; Middle English noun riddil, Old English hriddel, variant of hridder, hrīder; cognate with German Reiter; akin to Latin crībrum “sieve”; verb derivative of the noun

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Explanation

What's a question or problem that requires a bit of thought before you answer? It's a riddle, of course. The verb riddle can mean to speak in a puzzling fashion, though that use is not very common. The word riddle might put you in mind of such brain-teasers as "Why did the chicken cross the road?", but riddles actually have a distinguished history in English literature going back to the 10th century. Today, you often find riddle used to mean a hard problem or question to figure out. Is it a riddle to you why you have to go to school? In an unrelated use, if something is riddled with holes, there are many holes in it, quite possibly from bullets!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

riddle riddled riddling

When the anonymous clues take a spooky turn, Felix calls on an unlikely ally to help him solve the final riddle and bring the scavenger hunt to a close.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

The tech companies that are largely funding the AI boom have been avoiding that riddle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026

A 48-46 defeat, settled by a France penalty with the clock in the red, only adds to the riddle.

From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2026

But the cyclops can’t solve the simplest of riddles and the increasingly exasperated maidens, who’ll be free once a riddle is solved, can’t get them to stop approaching the cave or from making terrible guesses.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2026

Like “Eureka” or “By Jove, I’ve got it,” “voilà” is sometimes exclaimed by people who have figured out the answer to some sort of problem or riddle that has been vexing them to no end.

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood

Software engineer Simon Martin, 44, who lives in Ancoats, recounted how a cab driver told him he would have hesitated once to pick him up, when the area was riddled with crime.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

Sanft has also said prosecution witnesses were unreliable and the police investigation was riddled with issues.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

And being riddled with all the cliched insecurities that every other actor, when you’re playing it, you go, “God, this feels great. To not even have to try with people must be so wonderful.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

When the second-largest U.S. bank discloses its quarterly financial results, analysts have to decipher the lexicon of CEO Brian Moynihan, riddled with obscure, archaic words fit for novelists or judges of bygone centuries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Some feeling has returned to my leg, but my arms are still riddled with spasms.

From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

You can’t help but like her even though she’s oblivious to the way her privilege provides insulation and her prescriptions turn out to be riddling and fickle.

From New York Times ● Feb. 27, 2022

Rebranded as Súil, a Gaelic word meaning “hope,” the sparkling viognier is still made by hand through riddling, disgorging and recorking, and in limited quantities.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 24, 2021

He also served as a source for my notorious 1993 article “The Death of Proof,” which reported that “the doubts riddling modern human thought have finally infected mathematics.”

From Scientific American ● Sep. 15, 2019

A triptych tells riddling tales of masters and servants, with the same two actors playing all the roles, in two sumptuous gardens at an Italian villa.

From The New Yorker ● May 6, 2019

I toy with shouting some tidbit more—some terrifying, unthinkable threat, some blackly fuliginous riddling hex—but my heart’s not in it.

From "Grendel" by John Gardner

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Related Words

• complexity
• conundrum
• dilemma
• enigma
• mystery
• puzzle
• quandary
• teaser

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