unriddle

C2+ Topic:Communication

US /ʌnˈrɪdəl/ UK /ʌnˈrɪdəl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to solve or explain a riddle, puzzle, or mystery

The detective set out to unriddle the locked-room murder.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to solve or explain a... solve decipher unravel resolve explaindecode

Opposites

puzzle mystify confuse

Word family

Derived forms unriddler

Related forms riddle

Etymology

From un- ('reversal, undoing') + riddle, from Old English rǣdels(e) ('opinion, riddle'), from rǣdan ('to advise, interpret').

un- Old English rǣdels Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Communication

External links

# unriddle

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ʌnˈrɪdəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ʌnˈrɪdəl/

## Meanings
1. to solve or explain a riddle, puzzle, or mystery

## Examples
- The detective set out to unriddle the locked-room murder.

## Synonyms
- solve
- decipher
- unravel
- resolve
- explain
- decode

## Antonyms
- puzzle
- mystify
- confuse

## Derived Forms
- unriddler

## Related Forms
- riddle

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: un-
- Root: rǣdels

## Etymology
From un- ('reversal, undoing') + riddle, from Old English rǣdels(e) ('opinion, riddle'), from rǣdan ('to advise, interpret').

## AI Etymology
Unriddle comes from un- ('reversal, undoing') + riddle, from Old English rǣdels(e) ('opinion, riddle'), from rǣdan ('to advise, interpret'). The historical chain includes Old English un- and Old English rǣdels. The quoted older senses, "reversal, undoing", "opinion, riddle", and "to advise, interpret", supply the semantic anchors for unriddle. The formation is best read as compound and borrowed: the word unriddle carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a verb, "to solve or explain a riddle, puzzle, or mystery". English derivatives include unriddler; related English forms include riddle. The result is a verb whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Communication

markdown