read the riot act

Cultural  

1. To chastise loudly, or to issue a severe warning: “After the students stormed the administration building, the president of the university came out and read them the riot act.” In England, unruly crowds that did not disperse after the Riot Act was read to them became subject to the force of the law.

---

read the riot act Idioms  

1. Warn or reprimand forcefully or severely, as in When he was caught throwing stones at the windows, the principal read him the riot act. This term alludes to an actual British law, the Riot Act of 1714, which required reading a proclamation so as to disperse a crowd; those who did not obey within an hour were guilty of a felony. [First half of 1800s]

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

read the riot act

She said she was told he had been "read the riot act" but had no formal punishment.

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2025

She sang with Muppets, talked with the aliens and read the riot act to Philip Seymour Hoffman.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 2024

"It reads a lot like a stern but polite reprimand of a child caught red handed who needs to be read the riot act," he wrote.

From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2022

Washington was also a different team in the second half after getting read the riot act by Rivera.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 13, 2021

Well, I'm not going to brag about myself, but it required some courage on my part to take the initiative and read the riot act to Thatcher.

From A Hoosier Chronicle by F. C. (Frederick Coffay) Yohn

Related Words

• berate
• censure
• chastise
• criticize
• excoriate
• flog
• lambaste
• lash
• penalize
• pummel
• punish
• rebuke
• reprimand
• scold
• upbraid