: split apart
riven wood [=wood split apart along the grain]
: divided into pieces or factions
a riven nation
… beautifully nuanced portraits of a riven people, separated by more than an ocean.—
Mylène Dressler
Mylène DresslerExamples of riven in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
If Elden Ring’s world is one riven by competing rhetorics of death, none of them sufficient, Shadow of the Erdtree’s is one in which they have all been abandoned, unreplaced: a world where death is meaningless—and life with it.
—Gabriel Winslow-Yost, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024
But even if Lebanon remains riven by sectarian divisions and vulnerable to foreign interlopers, the risks and rewards of Hezbollah’s setback — no matter how temporary — present a tantalizing opportunity for a political revival and perhaps real national unity.
—Matt Bradley, NBC News, 4 Oct. 2024
Hailing from the southern state of Tabasco, López Obrador won election on a promise to end entrenched corruption and reduce the income gap in a country riven by economic and racial inequalities that were accentuated by the North American Free Trade Agreement.
—Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2024
And then a truck arrived to outfit the unit, loaded with rifles that were old and rusty, and body armor that was dirty and sometimes riven with bullet holes.
—Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for riven 
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Gabriel Winslow-Yost, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024
But even if Lebanon remains riven by sectarian divisions and vulnerable to foreign interlopers, the risks and rewards of Hezbollah’s setback — no matter how temporary — present a tantalizing opportunity for a political revival and perhaps real national unity.
—Matt Bradley, NBC News, 4 Oct. 2024
Hailing from the southern state of Tabasco, López Obrador won election on a promise to end entrenched corruption and reduce the income gap in a country riven by economic and racial inequalities that were accentuated by the North American Free Trade Agreement.
—Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2024
And then a truck arrived to outfit the unit, loaded with rifles that were old and rusty, and body armor that was dirty and sometimes riven with bullet holes.
—Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for riven
Dictionary Entries Near riven
Cite this Entry
“Riven.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/riven. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.
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