Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Music A short rhythmic phrase, especially one that is repeated in improvisation.
- n. A clever or inventive commentary or remark: "Those little riffs that had seemed to have such sparkle over drinks ... look all too embarrassing in cold print” ( John Richardson).
- v. To play or make riffs.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The belly; the bowels.
- n. An obsolete form of reef.—2. A rapid or riffle. See riffle.
- n. An obsolete form of reef.
Wiktionary
- n. A repeated instrumental melody line in a song.
- n. A clever or witty remark.
- v. To improvise in the performance or practice of an art, especially by expanding on or making novel use of traditional themes.
WordNet 3.0
- v. play riffs
- n. a jazz ostinato; usually provides a background for a solo improvisation
- n. a Berber living in northern Morocco
- v. look through a book or other written material
Etymologies
- Origin unknown.
Examples
“Thanks to technological acceleration, John Cage jokes are rapidly approaching their sell-by date (remember when 4'33 was this wild, crazy cult thing that nobody knew about?), but this riff is a worthy entry in the pantheon.”
“Teabagger riff is old, and “bigot” says more about the speaker.”
“They slammed into the main riff (sort of a sped up version of "Spoonful") with a frantic and almost desperate ferocity.”
“The element of rock and roll that we refer to as the riff has been around for many years.”
“They played the awesome guitar riff from the theme song to Thundercats.”
“Whole Lotta Love" shared some lyrics with Dixon's "You Need Love/Woman You Need Love", though the riff from the song was an original Jimmy Page composition.”
“At recent live shows, Wilco has played two new songs: "One Wing" recalls the melancholy, slowly building "Sky Blue Sky" closer "On and On and On," while "Sunny Feeling" has a sly main riff in keeping with loose jams from the last album.”
“After thanking his drug connection and tipping his hat to God, Jigga toasts the high life over a gritty Brooklyn funky-horns riff from the Menahan Street Band.”
“There's always one more quirk in the character: Dear Special Agent Todd: the Jeopardy riff is becoming unfunny with extreme speed.”
“So, as I suggested in the title a riff on the old REM song, Macworld without Apple will have to change, but the changes may be good.”
Consumer Reports: It's the end of Macworld as we know it (but I feel fine)
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘riff’.
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Here and Now
Words related to the mental state of "being in the present in the moment".
improvisation, nolens volens, extempore, autoschediastic, in medias res, willy-nilly, egersis, immanence, nunc pro tunc, spontaneity, observant, concentration and 55 more...
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Music
lyric, rhythm, song, hymn, melody, riff, tune, chant, chorus, requiem, beat, cadence and 2 more...
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Music lingo
unsyncopated rhythms, tonal harmonies, ambient soundscapes, bass line, synths, mellow, trippy, instrumental, vocal harmony, vamping, tonality, riff and 47 more...
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Ruzuzu's totally rad, righteous, and rockin' R ...
R words? Really? Right on!
retail, rabe, rutabega, Rashomon, radioisotope, Rasputin, rusty, rosacea, Rumi, riskier, rat, rifle and 53 more...
thebighenry ninja words:
(v) : to improvise in the performance or practice of an art, esp. by expanding on or making novel use of traditional themes
Jun 11, 2008