How to Use riff in a Sentence

riff

1 of 2 noun
Definition of riffnext
Synonyms for riffnext
  • He stole that riff from another song.
  • In one sense, the new riff is true to the chain’s Southern roots.
    — Emily Heil, Washington Post, 7 Sep. 2023
  • David Brown: There have been a lot of movies that kind of riff on the same theme.
    — Lauren Goode, WIRED, 12 Oct. 2023
  • There are riffs and runs and great harmonies all over the place.
    — Maggie Fremont, EW.com, 4 Apr. 2023
  • Your trademark style comes through in the song’s main riff.
    — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 5 Feb. 2024
  • The vibe is bright, the riffs are crunchy, but something eerie lurks beneath the song.
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 23 Aug. 2023
  • For an adult riff on that theme, swap out the tea and enjoy Bubbles & Blitzen.
    — Rebecca Deurlein, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023
  • Anybody can play riffs on the bass, and anybody can play songs on the piano.
    — Alex Williams, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2023
  • The ad even riffs on timeless lines from the original film.
    — Vulture, 1 Nov. 2023
  • In my view, this drink is a riff on the French 75, which leaves the door open to a high degree of variation.
    — John Debary, Bon Appétit, 3 Dec. 2023
  • The line, a riff on her tribe’s name, appeared on the front page of the Wisconsin State Journal the next day.
    — Harrison Smith, Washington Post, 21 Aug. 2023
  • Bassist Michael Shuman kicked the air as the trio of guitarists drilled down on the riff into a tumbling wall of sound.
    — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 18 Dec. 2023
  • The words are jingle-catchy, the music like tail fins turned into twelve-bar riffs.
    — Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 4 May 2023
  • For these Halloween riffs on the classic calzone, use 4- by 5-in.
    — Sunset Staff, Sunset Magazine, 25 Oct. 2023
  • Each one is a riff on the classic chocolate chip cookie.
    — Olivia Gyapong, The Arizona Republic, 8 Aug. 2023
  • Salmon and mackerel both make for a warm, cheesy riff on a tuna melt.
    — Audrey Bruno, SELF, 13 Mar. 2024
  • The markings of so many iconic pop punk songs have to do with that opening guitar riff.
    — Pitchfork, 2 Nov. 2023
  • And some Europeans found the riff on Dante its own species of sacrilege.
    — Nathan Heller, Vogue, 29 Aug. 2023
  • In fact, the pair just released a new riff on the popular Fenty x Puma Creeper.
    — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 20 Nov. 2023
  • That bugs him and spins him into an impassioned, salty riff.
    — Ben Court, Men's Health, 27 Apr. 2023
  • There was also a pretty fun riff on the tenth Doctor from Doctor Who.
    — Vulture, 13 Jan. 2023
  • The two form a formidable bond as the film riffs on Schwarzenegger’s star persona.
    — Charna Flam, Variety, 10 June 2023
  • Soul was ambitious but played too much like a jazzy riff on Inside Out.
    — Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 May 2023
  • The recipe is a riff of it with a few ingredients added or subtracted.
    — Keith Pandolfi, The Enquirer, 23 Feb. 2024
  • This fragrant riff on the drink of holiday lore combines pale ale and cider with brown sugar and spices.
    — Washington Post, 23 Dec. 2023
  • The metaphor runs even deeper than the imagery, though, since the Trio wrote the music first, including the guitar riffs’ pauses and breaks.
    — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 25 Jan. 2024
  • This unique riff dresses the tomatoes with fish sauce, lemon juice and olive oil before combining them with mayo and lentil sprouts in the pitas.
    — Becky Krystal, Washington Post, 15 July 2023
  • Nearly all of the 2024 candidates have online stores and most have tchotchkes that riff on the year’s politics.
    — Meg Kinnard, Fortune, 23 Dec. 2023
  • Not just frosting on the cake and background riffs, like is typical with what horn sections do.
    — Melinda Newman, Billboard, 8 Mar. 2024
  • At the restaurant, named for Cottrell’s 35-pound orange-and-white cat, the team is channeling a playful vibe with riffs on barbecue inspired by Cottrell’s time cooking in New Orleans.
    — Kate Kassin, Bon Appétit, 28 Mar. 2024
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riff

2 of 2 verb
  • The key to the Six-Cup Classic Chemex is its beaker-riffed design.
    — Rob Verger, Popular Science, 5 Apr. 2020
  • For the next minute or so, Alan just went for it, riffing for the camera.
    — Lacey Rose, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 May 2023
  • Did any of the scenes come out of the two of you riffing together in the studio?
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 5 Dec. 2019
  • The friend sat in the backseat beside a pile of Thomas’s notebooks and riffed through pages.
    — Dave Hyde, Dallas News, 3 Aug. 2023
  • Of course, Meyers found that note funny and had to riff with a joke.
    — Ryan Parker, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2022
  • The genius of the cake is that there’s room to riff at pretty much every step.
    — Bon Appétit, 1 Mar. 2022
  • People who can riff with you — with your thoughts, and your ideas, and help take them to the next level.
    — Sarah Jenkins, Rolling Stone, 29 Feb. 2024
  • Jasper Deares for some lessons in how to loosen up and riff on camera.
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 1 Apr. 2021
  • To riff on one of Jepsen’s lyrics, there’s no drug like resonance.
    — Rachelvoronacote, Longreads, 10 Aug. 2020
  • As the drinks kept flowing, so to did their ideas on how to riff on mofongo.
    — Keith Pandolfi, The Enquirer, 7 Apr. 2021
  • One video includes audio of people riffing as the critter flies to the front, back and then front of the plane.
    — oregonlive.com, 2 Aug. 2019
  • Then Gerard might riff off the dance moves of the people around them, and the good vibes would grow, Rosheger remembered.
    — Matt Kempner, ajc, 22 June 2023
  • Think of the person at a party who shows up late and tries to riff on the inside joke with no context.
    — Erik Huberman, Rolling Stone, 21 May 2021
  • The ability to riff like that in a kitchen, to look in a fridge and come up with a dish off the cuff is a secret, genuine skill.
    — Wired Staff, WIRED, 29 Sep. 2022
  • The best of #DanceTok is both unique and adaptable; a base that dancers can repeat and riff off, putting their own spin on it.
    — Camille Squires, Quartz, 11 Mar. 2022
  • An icon who wants to stay at the center of the culture can’t keep putting out the same old thing and suing anyone who riffs on it.
    — Willa Paskin, New York Times, 11 July 2023
  • Others riffed on the remix — someone even made a hamster dance to it — giving it new life.
    — Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN, 22 Apr. 2023
  • Users can also upload an image of their own and then tell the AI system how to riff on it.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 14 July 2022
  • The intro riff alone marks a grand entrance, appropriate for a couple’s first day of the rest of their (after)lives.
    — Andy O'Connor, SPIN, 29 May 2023
  • In one episode, Gillis and McCusker riffed about Chinatown.
    — Daysia Tolentino, NBC News, 5 Feb. 2024
  • Vallée, who is 82 now, has celestite eyes, a strong nose, and a head of sterling hair that seems to riff on tinfoil hats.
    — Chantel Tattoli, Wired, 18 Feb. 2022
  • The Americana tropes of the 1950s that were so prevalent in the spring menswear collections take the form of deb dresses and khakis that riff on GI favorites.
    — Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 13 July 2022
  • Some of the biggest recent literary novels have riffed on the tropes of the wholesome romance.
    — Time, 11 Aug. 2023
  • The Athletic’s Andy Staples riffs about what an eight-team playoff might look like this year.
    — oregonlive, 5 Dec. 2019
  • The Internet memes riffing on all these on-stage moments.
    — Christian Allaire, Vogue, 27 Aug. 2019
  • In it, McPhee riffs on the joys and risks of making cultural references in one’s writing.
    — Christopher Beam, WIRED, 14 Sep. 2023
  • Existing alongside her trove of warm pop LPs is a series of B-sides that riff on her ideas of dance pop and disco.
    — The New Yorker, 31 July 2023
  • That’s all RiffTrax needed to zero in on this film for its live-riffing series.
    — Susan Dunne, courant.com, 9 Aug. 2019
  • She’s known for her preparation and precision, with an affinity for crowd work that translates well into riffing with the contestants on her show.
    — Eliza Brooke, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024
  • The film is a passion project that riffs on different comedic genres — satire, physical and sketch — to create an absurdist adventure.
    — Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Mar. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'riff.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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