Tiny home problems fixed after news investigation

What does “riddled with” mean in English?

When something is “riddled with” problems, the problems are everywhere — not just one or two, but too many to count. The word “riddled” comes from an old word for a sieve, a kitchen tool with holes all through it. So if a house is riddled with problems, it is broken in many places at once. You can use it for homes, systems, reports, or anything badly broken in more than one way.

The reporter says: “A retired grandmother, Becky Sears, says the home was riddled with problems.” Those problems included broken wiring, a leaking front door, and appliances that did not work — not one thing wrong, but many. “Riddled with” is a fixed phrase — always followed by “with.” You cannot say “riddled of” or “riddled by.” Common uses: riddled with errors, riddled with mistakes, riddled with corruption, riddled with debt. It works for physical things too — “a wall riddled with cracks.” The verb “to riddle” can mean to make many holes (as in “bullets riddled the wall”), but in everyday speech the fixed phrase “riddled with” is much more common.