1
as in angry
feeling or showing anger some visibly riley people were lined up in the customer service department

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

2
as in muddy
having visible particles in liquid suspension take care not to stir up the bottom of the stream when you fill the dipper, or your water will be riley

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for riley
Adjective
  • Without Flagg, asking angry fans for more money may have sent Welts back into another round of retirement.
    Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 June 2025
  • The jury has been shown transcripts of angry emails and text messages between Serafini and his wife’s parents that show a heated, ongoing dispute over a $1.3 million loan from his in-laws to help fund his wife’s fledgling horse ranch business.
    Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 26 June 2025
Adjective
  • Furthermore, stormy weather in Stockholm meant the muddy pitch would favour the hosts’ more pragmatic style.
    Michael Cox, New York Times, 22 June 2025
  • Earlier pressings of this record sounded muddy and boxed in, but here, the piano sparkles and the guitar cuts.
    Philip Martin, Arkansas Online, 19 June 2025
Adjective
  • In the ’60s, my grandma came straight to Los Angeles from Mississippi with mad kids.
    Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 27 June 2025
  • Sit down in Geneva or Vienna or Qatar and fully and permanently surrender this mad nightmare to acquire nukes, or face more of the same devastation.
    New York Daily News, Twin Cities, 26 June 2025
Adjective
  • Unsurprisingly, Russia and China have been the starkest foreign detractors of Golden Dome, which sets out to defend the vast spread of the U.S. homeland from ballistic, hypersonic and cruise missiles through a web of satellites, sensors and interceptors.
    Ruxandra Iordache, CNBC, 20 June 2025
  • At the time of his arrest, Diaz was wearing a ballistic vest and a gas mask.
    Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 June 2025
Adjective
  • In a memorable photo from a G-7 summit during his first term, the U.S. president sat, arms crossed, glaring at an indignant German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
    JENNIFER LIND, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025
  • Facing this deluge of information and personalities, Kelley’s Fact Checker is less indignant and sure-footed than Fingal, and in this uncertainty takes an important next step.
    Isabel Clara Ruehl June 16, Literary Hub, 16 June 2025
Adjective
  • River had Gonzalo Montiel sent off at the death for a second yellow card as the match ended with Inter players running off the pitch showered by items from the stands and followed by a furious Marcos Acuna until he was restrained by team-mates.
    Jack Lang, New York Times, 25 June 2025
  • Employees, terrified and furious, call out to the agents.
    Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 20 June 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Riley.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/riley. Accessed 6 Jul. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!