as in interpretation
a distinct treatment of something (as a story or a play)
a mock news program with humorous riffs on current events
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Recent Examples of riff
For her performance, Clarkson sported a Buffalo Bills jacket — a nod to that day’s guest, Hailee Steinfeld, who is engaged to quarterback Josh Allen — and kept her vocal arrangement free of any of her signature high notes or riffs, letting the humor of Crow’s lyrics speak for itself.
—
Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 9 Apr. 2025
How a British Dad Made Comedy Gold: George Lewis’s riffs on the absurdities of millennial parenting — and the inner lives of 2-year-olds — have won him legions of fans online and galvanized his once middling stand-up career.
—Silvana Paternostro Nathalia Angarita, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
Her riffs on seemingly objective inscriptions and notations for sound and motion, often paired with handwritten lettering or musical symbols, point back not just to the body of the maker, but to her cultural world.
—Mara Mills, Artforum, 1 Apr. 2025
Since then, the Gretzky reckoning has been chronicled in Canada with social media riffs, memes and newspaper editorials.
—Matthew J. Friedman, CNN Money, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for riff
Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 9 Apr. 2025
How a British Dad Made Comedy Gold: George Lewis’s riffs on the absurdities of millennial parenting — and the inner lives of 2-year-olds — have won him legions of fans online and galvanized his once middling stand-up career.
—Silvana Paternostro Nathalia Angarita, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
Her riffs on seemingly objective inscriptions and notations for sound and motion, often paired with handwritten lettering or musical symbols, point back not just to the body of the maker, but to her cultural world.
—Mara Mills, Artforum, 1 Apr. 2025
Since then, the Gretzky reckoning has been chronicled in Canada with social media riffs, memes and newspaper editorials.
—Matthew J. Friedman, CNN Money, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for riff
Recent Examples of Synonyms for riff
Noun
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Civil rights activists said the law and its broader interpretation to include women and other minority groups has made a difference in public sector jobs, including in agencies like fire departments where women had sometimes been denied access.—
Deborah Barfield Berry,
USA Today,
25 Apr. 2025
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But Andrade said that Sheeran’s interpretation of the law is questionable at best.—
Jeffrey Schweers,
The Orlando Sentinel,
24 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Since then, several European countries have implemented their own variations of the law.—
Dee Coakley,
Forbes.com,
24 Apr. 2025
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Several attendees showed their team spirit for the game, wearing variations on the Knicks’ signature uniform colors of white, orange, blue and black.—
Julia Teti,
Footwear News,
22 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Manufacturers have gone directly to Chinese social media platforms Red Note and Douyin, the local version of TikTok, to ask consumers to support them, but fatigue is growing, pointed out Ashley Dudarenok, founder of ChoZan, a China marketing consultancy.—
Evelyn Cheng,
CNBC,
28 Apr. 2025
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Correction An earlier version of this story misspelled the first name of Elora Mukherjee.—
Michel Martin,
NPR,
28 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Riff.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/riff. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
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