riven
pronunciation
How to pronounce riven in British English:
UK [ˈrɪvn]
How to pronounce riven in American English:
US [ ˈrɪvn]
Word Origin
- riven (adj.)
- "split, cloven, rent," c. 1300, past participle adjective from rive "to tear, rend."
Example
- 1. Immature societies , riven by tribal passions , are doomed to fight for years to come .
- 2. The former transitional authorities were unable to stitch together a country riven by mistrust and anger after 40 years of ruthless dictatorship .
- 3. Just 16 years ago the anc inherited a country that was virtually bankrupt , riven with racial hostility and wracked by poverty .
- 4. Freud , meanwhile , believed that the nuclear family was universal , and that the " primeval family , " riven by the oedipus complex , had been even more repressive than haute-bourgeois vienna .