What does "riddle" mean?
A verbal puzzle, mystery, or other problem of an intellectual nature.
Riddle
/ˈɹɪdl̩/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A verbal puzzle, mystery, or other problem of an intellectual nature.
- Grammar: riddle is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: conundrum, enigma, anagram, answer.
- Useful contrasts: answer, blockage, clarify.
- Usage evidence: If he could not answer the riddle, he would be eaten.
How to use "riddle"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "riddle" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "riddle" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "riddle" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "riddle" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "riddle" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "conundrum" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "riddle", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A verbal puzzle, mystery, or other problem of an intellectual nature.
"Here's a riddle: It's black, and white, and red all over. What is it?"
- 2 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.
- 3 A curtain; bedcurtain. obsolete
- 4 a coarse sieve (as for gravel) wordnet
- 5 An ancient verbal, poetic, or literary form, in which, rather than a rhyme scheme, there are parallel opposing expressions with a hidden meaning.
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 A board with a row of pins, set zigzag, between which wire is drawn to straighten it.
- 7 One of the pair of curtains enclosing an altar on the north and south.
- 8 a difficult problem wordnet
Verb
- 1 To speak ambiguously or enigmatically.
- 2 To put something through a riddle or sieve; to sieve; to sift.
"You have to riddle the gravel before you lay it on the road."
- 3 To plait. obsolete, transitive
- 4 set a difficult problem or riddle wordnet
- 5 To solve, answer, or explicate a riddle or question. transitive
"Riddle me this."
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 To fill with holes like a riddle.
"The shots from his gun began to riddle the targets."
- 7 explain a riddle wordnet
- 8 To fill or spread throughout; to pervade (with something destructive or weakening). figuratively
"Your argument is riddled with errors."
- 9 speak in riddles wordnet
- 10 spread or diffuse through wordnet
- 11 pierce with many holes wordnet
- 12 separate with a riddle, as grain from chaff wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
- 2 A place in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Owyhee County, Idaho.
- 3 A place in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Ohio Township, Crawford County, Indiana, named after George Washington Riddle.
- 4 A place in the United States:; A city in Douglas County, Oregon.
- 5 A place in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Ritchie County, West Virginia.
Example
"If he could not answer the riddle, he would be eaten."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "riddle"?
Common synonyms include: conundrum, enigma, anagram, answer, arabesque, assort.
How do you use "riddle" in a sentence?
If he could not answer the riddle, he would be eaten.
How do you pronounce "riddle"?
Pronounced /ˈɹɪdl̩/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English redel, redels, from Old English rǣdels, rǣdelse (“counsel, opinion, imagination, riddle”), from Proto-West Germanic *rādislī (“counsel, conjecture”). Analyzable as rede (“advice”) + -le. Akin to Old English rǣdan (“to read, advise, interpret”). Cognate with Dutch raadsel, German Rätsel.
Etymology 2
From Middle English riddil, ridelle (“sieve”), from Old English hriddel (“sieve”), alteration of earlier hridder, hrīder, from Proto-West Germanic *hrīdrā, from Proto-Germanic *hrīdrą, *hrīdrǭ (“sieve”), from Proto-Germanic *hrid- (“to shake”), from Proto-Indo-European *krey-. Akin to German Reiter (“sieve”), Old Norse hreinn (“pure, clean”), Old High German hreini (“pure, clean”), Gothic 𐌷𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (hrains, “clean, pure”). More at rinse.
Etymology 3
From Middle English riddel, ridel, redel, rudel, from Old French ridel ("a plaited stuff; curtain"; > Medieval Latin ridellus), from rider (“to wrinkle”), from Old High German rīdan (“to turn; wrap; twist; wrinkle”). More at writhe. Doublet of rideau.
Etymology 4
From Middle English ridlen, from the noun (see above).
Etymology 5
Named after Ryedale in Yorkshire, as well as a spelling variant of Riddell.