riddle
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To speak ambiguously or enigmatically.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
riduhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹɪdəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
To speak ambiguously or enigmatically.
Speak in riddles
transitive
To solve, answer, or explicate a riddle or question.
Explain a riddle
To put something through a riddle or sieve; to sieve; to sift.
figuratively
To fill or spread throughout; to pervade (with something destructive or weakening).
noun
A difficult problem
A verbal puzzle, mystery, or other problem of an intellectual nature.
A sieve with coarse meshes, usually of wire, for separating coarser materials from finer, as chaff from grain, cinders from ashes, or gravel from sand.
An ancient verbal, poetic, or literary form, in which, rather than a rhyme scheme, there are parallel opposing expressions with a hidden meaning.
A board with a row of pins, set zigzag, between which wire is drawn to straighten it.
A place in the United States
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To speak ambiguously or enigmatically.
Used this way, riddle is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use riddle
- “The bullets riddled his body.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A canon in which the entrances of successive parts were indicated by cryptic symbols and devices (popular in the 15th and 16th centuries).
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.