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to unriddle

to unriddle

1 7.2
To find the answer to a riddle or mystery
  • verb
  • /ʌnˈrɪdəl/
translation icon : desenredar
  • I'm told he's been thoroughly unriddled by Rita Skeeter, in 800 pages, no less.
  • unriddle the mystery

Examples

  • In a letter dated 1824, one young woman uses the phrase "to unriddle your mystery."

    Academic text (2004)
  • It was on the job that I first met Dr. Alexander Anderson, whose mystery I would go to great lengths to unriddle.

    Academic text (2004)
  • Yet insofar as the film unriddles the bait paradox with any concreteness, it does so at the level that, in every film, counts most: that of the visual image.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Bob was certain that the man had unriddled him... had seen through his reasons for coming along... that Jesse could forecast each of Bob's possible moves and inclinations... and was only acting the innocent... in order to lull Bob into stupid tranquility and miscalculation.

  • The detective worked tirelessly to unriddle the complex case that had baffled everyone.

  • She hoped to unriddle the secrets hidden in the ancient manuscript.

  • After much thought, he finally managed to unriddle the puzzle left by his grandfather.

Synonyms

to unravel
vsto unriddle
75 4.4

To find out what really happened in a confusing situation

focuses on explaining hard to understand things not only separating parts
to unravel the mystery
vsto unriddle
8 5.2

To make a difficult or confusing problem clear

is used to explain any hard to understand thing rather than only complex cases
to puzzle out
vsto unriddle
4 4.4

To think hard to find the answer to a difficult problem

means explaining something confusing rather than only working it out mentally
to unsnarl
vsto unriddle
1 7.6

To free something from a tangle, like knots in rope or wire

is about explaining unclear things rather than removing tangible tangles

Antonyms

28 6.5

To make someone confused by making something seem mysterious

22 7.0

Make someone unable to think clearly

How Clear

to unriddle
1 7.2
to interpret
386 3.3
to suggest
1.6
guess
768 1.0

Surface Forms

unriddle infinitive
unriddled past
unriddled past participle
unriddling present participle
unriddles third person singular

Morphology

unriddle = riddle (transparent) = un + riddle

Productive reversative/negating prefix 'un-' added to the verb 'riddle' yields the clear meaning 'reverse the puzzling' = 'solve'.

Etymology

Unriddle comes from un- ('undo' or 'reverse') plus riddle ('puzzle' or 'mystery'). So to unriddle something is to 'undo the puzzle' — to solve or explain a mystery.