Ridden

Ridden is the past participle of the verb ride and serves both as a verb form and as a past participial adjective. In verb use, it appears in perfect tenses such as has ridden or had ridden. As an adjective, ridden describes something that is affected by or burdened with a quality or condition, typically negative, and often emphasizes pervasiveness rather than a specific action.

Etymology and form: The word originates from Old English ridan (to ride). The modern past tense is rode, while the past participle has the form ridden. The development follows the irregular pattern seen in other strong English verbs.

Usage and collocation: Ridden often appears in compound adjectives with a noun to express extensive presence of an undesirable feature, for example pothole-ridden roads, crime-ridden cities, or war-ridden regions. The standard prepositional construction is ridden with, meaning “affected by” or “burdened by.” Example sentences include: “The town is ridden with crime,” “The country is ridden with corruption,” and “The roads are pothole-ridden.” In some contexts, more precise or stronger expressions such as plagued by, infested with, or burdened by may be preferred. Ridden is usually used to convey negative conditions and is less common for neutral or positive traits.

See also: riddled, plagued, infested.