riven
Americanverb
adjective
-
rent or split apart.
-
split radially, as a log.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of riven
First recorded in 1275–1325, for the adjective
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.
Long before Nancy's arrival, the club was riven with disharmony.
From BBC • Dec. 11, 2025
Small towns were riven between people calling themselves Patriots and British Loyalists.
From Salon • Nov. 15, 2025
Indeed, a key reason Powell pushed back so bluntly against expectations of such a cut at the press conference that day was to manage a committee riven by seemingly unbridgeable differences.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 12, 2025
The question he posed has riven the judicial system, splitting district judges from appellate panels and the Pacific Coast from the Midwest.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 22, 2025
And if I told her something funny, then her tongue dropped away, her head fell back, her mouth opened wide, and there were her front teeth, riven and ascendant.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
