Standard Lemma guide

riddance

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɹɪd(ə)n(t)s/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈɹɪdn̩(t)s/
  • CMU ARPABET: R IH1 D AH0 N S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An act of ridding, clearance, or removal; elimination.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Deliverance, release, setting free; a relief involving getting rid of something.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The earth thrown up by a burrowing animal.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

the act of forcing out someone or something

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the ejection of troublemakers by the police
  • the child's expulsion from school

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ejection, exclusion, expulsion

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: banishment, proscription

Narrower terms: defenestration, deportation, ostracism, barring, blackball, ouster, ousting

5

noun

Meaning 5

the act of removing or getting rid of something

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: elimination

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: removal, remotion

Narrower terms: simplification

History

Etymology

Apparently an alteration of earlier Middle English riddeings, ryddyngs, reddyngs (“clearings, clearances”), plural of riddyng, riddynge, rudyng (“clearing away, removal”), partially continuing Old English hryding (“a clearing, cleared land”), by surface analysis, rid + -ance.

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Spanish: deshacimiento — an act of ridding, clearance
  • Spanish: desfacción — an act of ridding, clearance
  • Spanish: desfacimiento — an act of ridding, clearance