riff
noun
a melodic phrase, often constantly repeated, forming an accompaniment or part of an accompaniment for a soloist.
Showing results for "riff"
- a variation of Rif.
riff
1 American
[rif]
/ rɪf /
noun
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riffs
plural
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Jazz. a melodic phrase, often constantly repeated, forming an accompaniment or part of an accompaniment for a soloist.
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a new variation on or a different manifestation of an existing thing or idea (often followed byon ).
This is an eco-conscious riff on the study-abroad experience.
verb (used without object)
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riffs,
present (3rd person singular)
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riffed,
past participle, past
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riffing
present participle
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Jazz. to perform a repeated melodic phrase, forming an accompaniment for a soloist.
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to experiment with a thing or idea, making changes that create a new and novel version of it (often followed byon ).
My partner likes to let his ideas quietly simmer, but I prefer to riff on mine in conversations where I can bounce my thoughts off other people.
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to create, write, or perform something, like a comedy routine, using a common or known point of departure and following a previously unexplored tangent from that known point to a fresh or humorous perspective (often followed by on oroff ).
My act riffs off famous love stories and adds modern feminist elements to unmask the absurdity of “happily ever after” in fairy tales.
riff
British
/ rɪf /
noun
verb
-
(intr) to play or perform riffs in jazz or rock music
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informal to speak amusingly or make (amusing comments or remarks)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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riffsimple
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riffssimple
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have riffedperfect
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has riffedperfect
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am riffingprogressive
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are riffingprogressive
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is riffingprogressive
-
have been riffingperfect progressive
-
has been riffingperfect progressive
Past
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riffedsimple
-
had riffedperfect
-
was riffingprogressive
-
were riffingprogressive
-
had been riffingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of riff
First recorded in 1930–35; perhaps alteration and shortening of refrain 2
Explanation
A riff is a short section of music, especially in jazz. When you're first learning to play the saxophone, you may just play the same riff over and over. When one jazz musician in a band is improvising, the others are typically playing riffs in the background. Sometimes a riff introduces the start of a song or its chorus. To play this section is also to riff, and you can also talk about improvised speech using riff: "The stand-up comic decided to riff on the subject of his mom, since it was the only joke that was getting any laughs."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In “Then When,” a sharp rhythm, drummed on the strings, is augmented by percussive hits on different parts of the case, yielding a variety of timbres, and a plucked riff is repeated a few times.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
While Warren and the bill’s co-sponsors shouldn’t lean too hard on an extemporaneous riff from a podcaster, the germ of a promising strategy is there.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026
Anna Gibbs suggests that the song could be a riff on the loaded history of this term.
From Slate ● Sep. 24, 2026
Beyond its storytelling, the song’s melody and chopped vocal riff are unforgettable on this track, standing out from the rest of the album.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Summoning up her courage, Shanti sang an Eastern-influenced riff and broke into a rap about living on an island, eating grubs, rescuing pirates, and eating weird berries.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
“It doesn’t change our investigation at all,” Hochman said after the ruling from Superior Court Judge Lawrence Riff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
Baum, the outside attorney defending the county, told Riff he wanted to ensure the clients didn’t “have their hands in two cookie jars.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2026
“It is not for me to fact-check for the county,” she told Judge Lawrence Riff at a court hearing Wednesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2026
Of the singing actors that come from musical theater, Amando Castro is a fiery Anita; P. Tucker Worley, buoyant Riff; Yurel Echezarreta, a suave Bernardo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2025
"I could ask her what kind of a jam they think they've gotten into in the Riff."
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
Then, in the latter year, came their astounding expedition at the head of 5,000 Riffi which surprised, captured and disarmed 20,000 Spaniards under General Navarro.
From Time Magazine Archive
The source of Krim's remarkable wealth was declared to be certain valuable mineral deposits in the Riff, which are allegedly worked by women when the fighting male Riffi are at the front.
From Time Magazine Archive
He said that the hearts of loyal Riffi are so constructed that they could not possibly turn from Krim to "the French sultan."
From Time Magazine Archive
He said that not even Abd-El-Krim can disarm the Riffi, since each cleaves to his rifle as to his wife.
From Time Magazine Archive
Passing by, he saw Riffi, the little tailor of Charmes, bending over a long musket: the little man had been piling up the snow to give him a better position for aiming.
From The Invasion of France in 1814 by Alexandre Chatrian
Riffs included a board spread with whipped cream cheese and topped with berries and jam, with bagels for dipping, and goat cheese with savory crackers.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 21, 2022
And while some might call it cheap clickbait, we have a vision for what’s next: a Second 100 Days of Riffs on the Second-Degree Amendment Process in the Senate.
From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2021
Riffs on identity and 100 years of the Huntington Library.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2019
Riffs on life and love in prose and comic strip form, from the author of The Time Traveler’s Wife and her graphic artist husband.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 6, 2018
Why, I tell you, and you whisper it to the next man, and we pretend not to believe it, and call the Riffs liars.
From The Exiles and Other Stories by Richard Harding Davis
“An Unexpected Life” consists of short essays in which Steinem riffs on ideas and associations from her earlier years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
The badass riffs in this particular case are courtesy of Roman Morello, the 15-year-old son of our interviewee, who joined his dad’s band when he was 13.
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2026
The album is loaded with Anthrax trademarks — serrated, crunchy riffs, soaring lead vocals, bludgeoning beats, and scorching guitar — but there are also galactic noise effects, angular song structures and atypical chord configurations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
A powerhouse version of Dangerous Woman claps like thunder; and Grande's vocal riffs on Safety Net are so tremendously colossal they should be registered as the eighth wonder of the world.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
I recognized the opening riffs of “Change,” by John Waite.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
President Donald Trump riffed on his White House predecessors in a children's podcast Friday, while also joking about his weight and musing as to whether his body is swimsuit-ready.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
Bono has, for decades, riffed on this concept: “America isn’t just a country, it’s an idea.”
From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2026
On TikTok, people have riffed on and parodied the playful lyrics endlessly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2025
The most painful moment may have been the concluding “Sports Matters” segment, where Meier riffed with co-host Dave Martin while holding packets of paper from which they were clearly and awkwardly reading.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2025
Bobby Gene and I riffed about it all the way down the block.
From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon
The audience instantly understands that this is Schoenbrun riffing on their own intellectually minded approach, and that Kris is a self-insert character for the movie’s writer-director.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
The bar is decorated with references to China's AI boom, with logos of the country's major labs on the walls and the menu full of jokes riffing on tech jargon.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
A Taco Bell X post last week riffing on the joys of “spiritually sitting in a taco bell parking lot at sunset” was met with poop emojis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Giving it three stars, she says the overall feeling was that the show "did work", with some "proper jokes for grown-ups" especially in the Weekend Update section riffing on the news.
From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2026
We stepped easy, riffing with Styx about our new plan.
From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon
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