riddled
Americanadjective
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filled with, and often thoroughly weakened by, something undesirable (used in combination).
For decades taxpayers subsidized this fault-riddled nuclear plant, with its defective reactors and substandard construction.
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pierced in many places (usually used in combination).
His bullet-riddled body was found two days later.
verb
Etymology
Origin of riddled
Explanation
If an object is riddled with something, that means it's covered by that thing: for example, a tree trunk might be riddled with tiny holes made by the beaks of woodpeckers. The adjective riddled most often describes something damaged by or spread full of holes, like a rusty old mailbox riddled with bullet holes or a block of Swiss cheese riddled with holes. You can also use it figuratively: "It's so sad, her dog is riddled with cancer," or "The plot of your novel is riddled with holes — it just doesn't hold up." Riddled comes from the Old English hriddel, "sieve."
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.
That’s why legal briefs in the case are riddled with citations to an obscure 1915 book by a Boston lawyer named Josiah Henry Benton, who argued that historians had overlooked the practice.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026
Both are from the town of Ranya in Iraqi Kurdistan - a region "riddled with active smuggling networks", according to a report by the UK think tank, Chatham House.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
We’re all riddled with this feeling of the life we feel we deserve ...
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026
An October 2024 launch party with Will Smith and Alicia Keys proved premature, as rushed work left hotels riddled with construction problems and unable to open without hundreds of millions of dollars of fixes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026
There were no windows in the basement, so she groped her way among the chairs and toys that had once seemed so familiar—now riddled with the potential for bruised toes and dinged shins.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
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.
