1. to rend or tear apart. 2 to break into pieces, as by a blow; cleave or split asunder 3. to break or distress (the spirit, for example)

This is the inflected form of “riven,” which was used in an editorial by Maureen Dowd: “Idiosyncratic, indeed, with Iraq in chaos, the military riven and depleted, the president poleaxed, the Republican fortunes for the midterm elections dwindling, and Republican lawmakers like Chuck Hagel questioning Rummy’s leadership and Democratic ones like Dick Durbin proposing a no-confidence vote in the Senate.”