: 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
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Like so much else in this deeply riven country, the long-standing resentment toward California has assumed a highly partisan coloration.
—Mark Z. Barabak, The Mercury News, 21 Jan. 2025
It’s been riven from the beginning: 1731, when twenty-six landowners who lived in the southeastern section of Windham petitioned the Connecticut General Assembly to spare them the several-mile walk to the Windham church and give them permission to build their own.
—Gary Greenberg, Harper's Magazine, 23 Oct. 2024
Elwood, growing up in racially riven Tallahassee during the 1960s, is introduced first.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2024
The collective past and our powerful feelings about it could be the key to healing the riven nation.
—Michael Morris, TIME, 27 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for riven
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Mark Z. Barabak, The Mercury News, 21 Jan. 2025
It’s been riven from the beginning: 1731, when twenty-six landowners who lived in the southeastern section of Windham petitioned the Connecticut General Assembly to spare them the several-mile walk to the Windham church and give them permission to build their own.
—Gary Greenberg, Harper's Magazine, 23 Oct. 2024
Elwood, growing up in racially riven Tallahassee during the 1960s, is introduced first.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2024
The collective past and our powerful feelings about it could be the key to healing the riven nation.
—Michael Morris, TIME, 27 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for riven
Cite this Entry
“Riven.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/riven. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
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