ENGLISH
REFERENCE

ridden

v.
B1 Intermediate US //ˈɹɪdən// UK //ɹˈɪdən// rid·den Archaic Dialect

v. full of something bad or unpleasant. You use it to describe a place or thing that has too much of a specific problem.

v. full of or dominated by something undesirable. Often used as the second element in a compound (e.g. 'guilt-ridden').


SIMPLE

The old house was ridden with pests.

CONTEXTUAL

After years of neglect, the local government was ridden with corruption and inefficiency.

COMPLEX

The protagonist's journey is a tragic one, as he remains ridden with anxiety about a past he can neither change nor fully remember.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology 1

Morphologically ride + -en. See ride (verb).

Etymology 2

Morphologically rid + -en. See rid.

Usage

Typically follows a noun and the preposition 'with', or functions as a suffix in hyphenated compounds.

Pitfall

He was ridden of guiltHe was ridden with guiltWhen meaning 'full of', the word requires the preposition 'with', not 'of'.

Idioms1 entry

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