rive
verb
; riven ˈri-vən also rived; riving ˈrī-viŋ ; rives transitive verb
intransitive verb
Synonyms
- break
- break up
- bust
- disintegrate
- dismember
- disrupt
- fracture
- fragment
Example Sentences
Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 8 Apr. 2020 News reports this autumn detailed her disorganised, riven and functionally leaderless campaign, beset by internal rivalries and fund-raising woes. The Economist, 4 Dec. 2019 After more than three decades without baseball, the Montreal Expos moved to Washington in 2005 rebranded as the Nationals, becoming perhaps the only bipartisan agreement in a capital rived by tribalism as Republicans and Democrats flocked to games. Peter Baker, New York Times, 24 Oct. 2019 The divisions in the states riven by civil war are ethnic, denominational, interreligious, geographical, tribal, and ideological. New York Times, 12 May 2020 The strong bipartisan vote showed a rare level of unity in a Washington riven by partisan divides with a backdrop of a bitter fight for the Senate and the White House this fall. Laura Litvan, Bloomberg.com, 5 May 2020 The South American nation has been riven by protests for weeks, with clashes between government allies and opponents seeking Maduro’s ouster resulting in at least 30 deaths. Christine Jenkins, Bloomberg.com, 5 May 2017 See More Word History
Middle English, from Old Norse rīfa; akin to Greek ereipein to tear down
14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a
rive
verb
Synonyms & Similar Words
- disrupt
- break
- fracture
- destroy
- ruin
- fragment
- split
- reduce
- disintegrate
- bust
- wreck
- dismember
- break up
- smash
- crush
- crack
- grind
- burst
- pop
- blast
- shatter
- powder
- chip
- explode
- pulverize
- splinter
- detonate
- sliver
- blow up
- shiver
- atomize
- implode
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- repair
- patch
- fix
- rebuild
- heal
- reconstruct
- mend
- renovate
- recondition
- doctor
Synonyms & Similar Words
- rip
- tear
- rend
- split
- break
- ribbon
- shred
- cut
- tatter
- rupture
- cleave
- slash
- gash
- incise
- hack
- lacerate
- dissect
- butcher
- dismember
- mangle
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of rive are cleave, rend, rip, split, and tear. While all these words mean "to separate forcibly," rive occurs most often in figurative use.
The words cleave and rive are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, cleave implies very forceful splitting or cutting with a blow.
The words rend and rive can be used in similar contexts, but rend implies very violent or ruthless severing or sundering.
While the synonyms rip and rive are close in meaning, rip implies a pulling apart in one rapid uninterrupted motion often along a line or joint.
The meanings of split and rive largely overlap; however, split implies a cutting or breaking apart in a continuous, straight, and usually lengthwise direction or in the direction of grain or layers.
In some situations, the words tear and rive are roughly equivalent. However, tear implies pulling apart by force and leaving jagged edges.