Word.ws English Dictionary

riddance

Syllables: rid·dance/ˈɹɪd(ə)n(t)s/US/ˈɹɪdn̩(t)s/

riddance noun: an act of ridding, clearance, or removal; elimination.

Noun

riddance (countable and uncountable, plural riddances)

  1. An act of ridding, clearance, or removal; elimination.
    • A gentle riddance. Draw the curtains, go.
      Let all of his complexion choose me so.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • And this kind of riddance is the most pleasant to listen to of all2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 230c
  2. Deliverance, release, setting free; a relief involving getting rid of something.
  3. The earth thrown up by a burrowing animal.

riddance meaning in Urdu and Malayalam

riddance in Urdu

نجات, رفع

riddance in Malayalam

riddance
മുക്തി mukti

Forms of riddance

pluralriddances

Origin of riddance

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.

Words formed from riddance

Phrases with riddance

Questions about riddance

What does riddance mean?
Riddance means an act of ridding, clearance, or removal; elimination.
What is riddance in Urdu?
Riddance in Urdu is نجات, رفع. See Riddance meaning in Urdu.
What part of speech is riddance?
Riddance is a noun.
How do you pronounce riddance?
Riddance is pronounced /ˈɹɪd(ə)n(t)s/ (UK).
What is the plural of riddance?
The plural of riddance is riddances.

Words near riddance in the dictionary

  1. ridability
  2. ridable
  3. ridaforolimus
  4. Ridd
  5. riddah
  6. riddance
  7. riddances
  8. ridded
  9. Riddell
  10. riddelliine
  11. Riddells

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: riddance (page history and authors); riddance (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); മുക്തി (Malayalam) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-riddance.wav.

Cite this entry: “riddance.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/riddance. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.