rift
Americannoun
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rifts
plural
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an opening made by splitting, cleaving, etc.; fissure; cleft; chink.
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an open space, as in a forest or cloud mass, or a clear interval.
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a break in friendly relations.
a rift between two people; a rift between two nations.
- Synonyms:
- falling-out, estrangement, rupture, breach
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a difference in opinion, belief, or interest that causes such a break in friendly relations.
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Geology.
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a fault.
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a graben of regional extent.
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the plane or direction along which a log or mass of granite can most easily be split.
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wood or a piece of wood that has been split radially from a log.
verb (used with or without object)
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rifts,
present (3rd person singular)
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rifted,
past participle, past
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rifting
present participle
noun
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a gap or space made by cleaving or splitting; fissure
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geology a long narrow zone of faulting resulting from tensional stress in the earth's crust
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a gap between two cloud masses; break or chink
he saw the sun through a rift in the clouds
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a break in friendly relations between people, nations, etc
verb
noun
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a shallow or rocky part in a stream
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the backwash from a wave that has just broken
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A continental rift.
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A narrow break, crack, or other opening in a rock, usually made by cracking or splitting.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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riftsimple
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riftssimple
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have riftedperfect
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has riftedperfect
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am riftingprogressive
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are riftingprogressive
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is riftingprogressive
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have been riftingperfect progressive
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has been riftingperfect progressive
Past
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riftedsimple
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had riftedperfect
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was riftingprogressive
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were riftingprogressive
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had been riftingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rift
1250–1300; Middle English < Old Norse ript breaking of an agreement (compare Danish, Norwegian rift cleavage), derivative of rīfa to tear (cognate with rive )
Explanation
Rift sounds like rip, and it's helpful to think of it that way. When there is a rift in a political party over a particular policy, it is like a rip or tear in the fabric of the group. Rift has a slightly different sense than break. A group can have a rift without having fully broken apart. A rift can heal, though a break is permanent. A rift can arise between sisters over whose turn it is to do dishes; it can quickly heal when parents promise an ice cream trip when the dishes are done. The Earth's crust has rifts, where it's splitting apart, like in East Africa.
Vocabulary lists containing rift
Geological Features
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Africa - Introductory
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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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.
See Examples For:
The episode, which is titled “Burying the Hatchet” and aired in full Sunday, was a relatively chummy public reunion that dwelled little on the origins of their rift.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
A no-holds barred interview with US talkshow hostess Oprah Winfrey also deepened the rift.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
The recent departures from Google DeepMind also signify an ideological rift between Pichai and Hassabis, according to former employees.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
The rift hurt some longstanding investigations because leaders of the old unit worried they wouldn’t receive recognition for enforcement actions in which they did all the work, according to people familiar with the matter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
“I hope we haven’t caused an unmendable rift between coworkers,” said Thorn, worrying the collar of her prairie dress.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
Harry's 2023 autobiography, "Spare", lifted the veil on his royal rifts, describing William as his "arch-nemesis" and alleging he physically attacked him in a blazing 2019 row about Meghan.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
Harry and Meghan’s departure reflected both the larger struggle Black Brits and Americans face and the no-contact rifts that increasingly divide many families.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Differing opinions on the hotel, after Kebatu's offending in July 2025, led to rifts among neighbours who co-existed peacefully for years.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
Yang and his colleagues created the first high-resolution, 3D computer simulations of Venusian rifts.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026
I’ve personally witnessed several family rifts because so-and-so didn’t invite so-and-so to their wedding even though they had the nerve to invite a family friend.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
"In essence, we now have a front row seat to observe a critical rifting phase that had fundamentally shaped all rifted margins across the world," says co-author Folarin Kolawole, who is also with Lamont.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 25, 2026
This region was rifted apart during the breakup of the supercontinent Columbia, after which sedimentation continued on the western margin of Laurentia with the deposition of the Windermere Group.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
Divergent boundaries form where existing plates are rifted apart, and it is hypothesized that this is caused by a series of mantle plumes.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
Heezen thinks that the Atlantic Ocean is a very old crack that has rifted over and over and grown 3,000 miles wide.
From Time Magazine Archive
All along the grim rifted coast the dread marks of fire, and flood, and desolation were visible.
From The Land of Thor by J. Ross (John Ross) Browne
The team also uncovered signs of an earlier rifting episode that did not lead to a full continental split.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 25, 2026
These pathways opened during a period of tectonic stretching and rifting that eventually split Rodinia apart.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 23, 2026
“There are a variety of older structures in the range, too, due to ancient rifting, that could be reactivated.”
From National Geographic ● Sep. 11, 2023
Other volcanoes can let their lava loose from rifting landscapes relatively quietly, while others unleash unexpected blasts of steam.
From New York Times ● Sep. 2, 2022
Q. "Hello, Corporal," said Pete, with a capacious grin rifting the powder grime on his face.
From Si Klegg, Book 6 (of 6) Si And Shorty, With Their Boy Recruits, Enter On The Atlanta Campaign by John McElroy
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.
