riddled
Full of holes
Riddled means full of holes or permeated throughout by something undesirable.
A body riddled with bullets has been shot many times.
A system riddled with corruption is thoroughly compromised.
The word suggests damage or infestation so extensive that the thing can hardly hold together: The old fence was riddled with termites.
Separately, to riddle is to pose riddles or speak enigmatically.
Suffering from something harmful
- besetTroubled on all sides
- tormentedSubjected to severe distress
- infestedOverrun by pests
- overrunSpread throughout uncontrollably
swarming · teeming · blighted · cursed · stricken · bedeviled · troubled · haunted
Penetrated by sharp object
- piercedHad hole made
- holedMade openings through
- drilledPierced or rehearsed repeatedly
- pockmarkedScarred with small holes
ventilated · sieved · peppered · penetrated · slotted · pricked · permeated · leaky
afflicted
Suffering from something harmful
overrun · swarming · teeming · blighted · cursed · stricken · bedeviled · troubled · haunted · besieged
punctured
Penetrated by sharp object
pockmarked · ventilated · sieved · peppered · penetrated · slotted · pricked · permeated · leaky · tattered
enigma
Something hard to fathom
- conundrumPerplexing problem or question
- puzzleChallenge testing ingenuity
- brainteaserPuzzle demanding clever thought
sphinx · wordplay · mystery · clue · cipher · whodunit · cryptic · stumper
- porous texturesporous, spongy, perforated, pitted, cellular
- pest controlinsecticide, rat trap, pesticide, mousetrap, exterminator
- porous thingsporous, permeable, sponge, mesh, sieve
riddledintact
Not damaged or altered
undamaged · solid · unperforated · whole · unbroken
- speaking in riddles
- Tom Riddle
- word riddlesGames of linguistic deduction
- math riddlesProblems requiring numerical reasoning
- riddle wrapped in an enigmaUtterly baffling matter
riddle, riddles, riddler, riddling, unriddle, riddlers, unriddling