See if you can recall this close synonym of rift! 

Literally a long, narrow crack, a f___ure can also be a split or a division between people or ideas.

That word, f___ure, features in Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Fall of the House of Usher." Let's enjoy the story's final paragraph! Spoiler alert: the House of Usher rives (cracks open violently), falls, and gets swallowed up by a tarn (a lake):

From that chamber, and from that mansion, I fled aghast. The storm was still abroad in all its wrath as I found myself crossing the old causeway. Suddenly there shot along the path a wild light, and I turned to see whence a gleam so unusual could have issued; for the vast house and its shadows were alone behind me. The radiance was that of the full, setting, and blood-red moon which now shone vividly through that once barely-discernible f___ure of which I have before spoken as extending from the roof of the building, in a zigzag direction, to the base. While I gazed, this f___ure rapidly widened—there came a fierce breath of the whirlwind—the entire orb of the satellite burst at once upon my sight—my brain reeled as I saw the mighty walls rushing asunder—there was a long tumultuous shouting sound like the voice of a thousand waters—and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the "House of Usher."

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) 

The verbs "rift" and "rive" came into English from Scandinavian. When things rift or rive, they split apart or crack open, often in a forceful, violent way.

We still sometimes use "rive" as a verb, most often in the form "riven," as in "The tree was riven by lightning."

We hardly ever use "rift" like a verb, though. Most of the time, we use it as a noun. A rift is a splitting apart, or a separation, especially one that seems forceful or violent.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Most often a noun, the countable kind: "They're trying to close the rift between them;" "The fight created a rift within the party."

Other forms: 

The only common one is the "rifts," the plural noun.

The verbs "rift" and "rive" aren't exactly the same, obviously, but they have the same meaning and the same origin. So let's go ahead and lump "rive" and "riven" in here. Like I mentioned, it's really just "riven" that we use today, and it always has a dramatic, old-fashioned tone, like this: "a headstone riven by time and weather," "a family riven by feuds," "a community riven by hatred and distrust." 

how to use it:

Pick the common, ultra-short, extra-powerful word "rift" when you want to describe a serious rupture.

Talk about a rift between two people or groups, such as a rift in a friendship, a marriage, a political party, or a religion.

You might say that people (or events) open or tear a rift.

Or that people close, mend, or heal a rift. Or just reach across it.

examples:

"I arrived in Charleston during a thunderstorm. As the steamer groaned into the harbor, lightning tore rifts in the sky and rain pelted sideways." 
   — Sue Monk Kidd, The Invention of Wings, 2014

"The two countries had stayed alive over the centuries mainly by warring on each other. There had been the Olive War, the Tuna Fish Discrepancy, which almost bankrupted both nations, the Roman Rift, which did send them both into insolvency, only to be followed by the Discord of the Emeralds, in which they both got rich again, chiefly by banding together for a brief period and robbing everybody within sailing distance."  
   — William Goldman, The Princess Bride, 1973

has this page helped you understand "rift"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "rift" without saying "a split" or "a fracture."

try it out:

The Oculus Rift, made by Oculus VR, was one of the first virtual reality headsets. It's been discontinued.

Why did they call it the Rift? I don't have a reliable source on that, but I'm guessing it's because they wanted it to tear a dramatic (and profitable!) rift between actual reality and virtual reality.

It didn't! Last I checked, Meta was trying to do the same thing. No rift yet.

Anyway, in your opinion, is the name "Oculus Rift" a good one for this product? Why or why not? Can you think of any other possible reasons that they called it the Rift?

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for January: "Is That a Real Word?"

In each issue, I’ll give you three, um, written phenomena. You decide if each is a real word—and most importantly—why or why not. If someone were to dispute your judgment, how would you defend it? For fun, try comparing your responses with a companion’s. And if you like, you can compare yours with mine, which I’ll list at the bottom of the issue.

Try this last set today: Out of "brung," "conversating," and "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," which, if any, are real words?

review this word:

1. One opposite of a RIFT is

A. a FLUKE.
B. a UNION.
C. a RETRACTION.

2. In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle Earth, elves inhabit a peaceful place called Rivendell, an aptly-named _____ formed long ago by geological _____.

A. meadow .. luck
B. valley .. splitting
C. mountain .. pressure

Answers to the review questions: 1. B 2. B Let's compare notes from the game: I trust you're not surprised by this, but I say they're all real words!  "Brung:" You know what it means! You want to correct it, but you still understood it! "Conversating:" It may sound worse than fingernails on a chalkboard, but it's not just kids these days saying it: it's an accepted colloquial word, with OED citations dating back to 1811. "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious:" It's probably one of the best words ever, and yes, it's a real word, with an entry in the OED that—hold onto your top hat and cane—actually predates Disney's 1964 movie Mary Poppins. The word seems to have been coined in 1931. And Disney stole it from a 1949 song that they didn't write. There was a lawsuit and everything!

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.