How to Use riff in a Sentence

riff

1 of 2 noun
  • He stole that riff from another song.
  • Those riffs were old friends, even as my taste evolved.
    — Aj Dicosimo, SPIN, 11 May 2026
  • There are riffs and runs and great harmonies all over the place.
    — Maggie Fremont, EW.com, 4 Apr. 2023
  • Nah, that's gonna cause a riff-raff in the locker room.
    — Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 31 May 2026
  • When the riff drops in a Slipknot song.
    — Sam Sodomsky, Pitchfork, 7 Jan. 2026
  • The riff sounded like the feeling, the riff.
    — Outside Online, 25 Mar. 2026
  • Mammy’s riff also piles on ham and eggs.
    — Karla Walsh, Travel + Leisure, 15 Aug. 2025
  • This riff is a nice stretch on the classic thanks to cute bowtie pasta.
    — Josh Miller, Southern Living, 18 Apr. 2026
  • His movies are goofs, larks, stunts, knowingly arch bizarro-world riffs.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 18 May 2026
  • The vibe is bright, the riffs are crunchy, but something eerie lurks beneath the song.
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 23 Aug. 2023
  • Salmon and mackerel both make for a warm, cheesy riff on a tuna melt.
    — Audrey Bruno, SELF, 13 Mar. 2024
  • One of the most common riffs Simmons swears by at home or on the road?
    — Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Jan. 2026
  • Paul made no apologies for lifting riffs from classic rock and blues.
    — Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 28 Aug. 2025
  • Mayer supplied the mighty riff that propels the tune.
    — Sarah Rodman, Entertainment Weekly, 4 Dec. 2025
  • Did any of you think about that before closing your primaries to keep out the riff-raff?
    — Arkansas Online, 16 Mar. 2026
  • The name is a riff on the seven rules of bourbon production.
    — Linda Zavoral, Mercury News, 10 Oct. 2025
  • The markings of so many iconic pop punk songs have to do with that opening guitar riff.
    — Pitchfork, 2 Nov. 2023
  • Portland foursome pairs face-melting riffs with a wicked sense of humor.
    — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 12 July 2023
  • The pair went toe to toe singing buttery riffs while sitting in rotating lounge chairs.
    — Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 15 Jan. 2026
  • Christopher Nolan will soon launch a big-budget riff on Homer’s epic.
    — Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 31 Mar. 2026
  • For an adult riff on that theme, swap out the tea and enjoy Bubbles & Blitzen.
    — Rebecca Deurlein, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023
  • The synthesizer riff starts to clink.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 17 Apr. 2026
  • When done well, those moments can be as important to the world of an album as the riffs and blast beats.
    — Brad Sanders, Pitchfork, 8 June 2026
  • This rustic meal is a company's-coming riff on the old-school chicken-and-rice number.
    — Brennan Long, Southern Living, 4 Mar. 2026
  • The recipe is a riff of it with a few ingredients added or subtracted.
    — Keith Pandolfi, The Enquirer, 12 June 2024
  • This is a sideways riff on the theme, not set in a literal museum.
    — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Soul was ambitious but played too much like a jazzy riff on Inside Out.
    — Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 May 2023
  • This riff takes some liberties, by using a full cup of cream and either pancetta or bacon.
    — Deputy Food Editor, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2026
  • But the siren call of soft jazzy riffs from a grand piano beckons you towards reception.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 May 2026
  • Head to the vibey beachside Parelía for riffs on Greek classics.
    — Jemima Sissons, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Jan. 2026

riff

2 of 2 verb
  • But the whole purpose of the podcast is just to have fun and riff on stuff.
    — Lacey Rose, HollywoodReporter, 3 Mar. 2026
  • Other icons that reused or riffed on the old hard drive icon have also been changed.
    — Andrew Cunningham, ArsTechnica, 5 Aug. 2025
  • Jasper Deares for some lessons in how to loosen up and riff on camera.
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 1 Apr. 2021
  • Of course, Meyers found that note funny and had to riff with a joke.
    — Ryan Parker, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2022
  • As the drinks kept flowing, so to did their ideas on how to riff on mofongo.
    — Keith Pandolfi, The Enquirer, 7 Apr. 2021
  • The genius of the cake is that there’s room to riff at pretty much every step.
    — Bon Appétit, 1 Mar. 2022
  • To riff on one of Jepsen’s lyrics, there’s no drug like resonance.
    — Rachelvoronacote, Longreads, 10 Aug. 2020
  • For the next minute or so, Alan just went for it, riffing for the camera.
    — Lacey Rose, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 May 2023
  • 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
  • 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
  • Meyers let Fleming riff for a crazy-long section of his couch time.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 27 Mar. 2026
  • Snider’s cracking vocals are laid over simple drums and riffs closer to blues than folk.
    — Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2025
  • Others riffed on the remix — someone even made a hamster dance to it — giving it new life.
    — Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN, 22 Apr. 2023
  • The two riffed briefly, their faces slightly angled away from their computer and from me.
    — Jasna Hodžić, Big Think, 10 Mar. 2026
  • 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 friend sat in the backseat beside a pile of Thomas’s notebooks and riffed through pages.
    — Dave Hyde, Dallas News, 3 Aug. 2023
  • There are baking projects like homemade bagels, riffs on fast-food favorites, and a couple of drinks to round things out.
    — Hannah Lee Leidy, Bon Appetit Magazine, 9 May 2026
  • More difficult is going cold turkey on riffing his way through life.
    — Jake Coyle, Boston Herald, 11 Sep. 2025
  • After obliging, the rapper started to riff by adding some new insults.
    — Erin Vanderhoof, Vanity Fair, 22 Dec. 2025
  • 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
  • Her harshest barb riffed on a famous Maybelline mascara ad.
    — ABC News, 24 Apr. 2026
  • 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
  • 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
  • Often, the humor about the business of movies is funnier than the sketch comedy riffs.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 4 June 2026
  • The series mixed stand-up and sketch comedy that riffed on popular culture.
    — Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 18 June 2026
  • 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
  • Newscasters should never riff on race while reading the day’s headlines, let alone play games on the subject.
    — Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 7 Oct. 2019
  • Some poems can be storytelling poems, and other poems can riff off of a moment and open it up.
    — Christian Allaire, Vogue, 18 Oct. 2022
  • Some posts are delightful, riffing on the fresh chords of a new social network, one that’s still finding its rhythm.
    — WIRED, 17 Nov. 2023
  • Most sunrise alarm clocks riff off the sun in shape, often designed as semi-circles, globes, or rounded lanterns.
    — Deanne Revel, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Mar. 2023

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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