riff /ɹɪf/noun 5verb 3forms 3 noun5 •A repeated melody line in a song, usually instrumental but sometimes vocal.Listen to one of the greatest guitar riffs of all time! •A variation on something.Both the Orbit and the Pinnacle are riffs on an idea sketched out in 1917 by Vladimir Tatlin for a monument to international communism. — 2012 •A spoof.The creative team has experience with spoofing: Both [Paul] Rudd and [Amy] Poehler had parts in [David] Wain’s Wet Hot American Summer, a hysterically irreverent riff on ’80s summer-camp comedies. — 2014 •A clever or witty remark.Pope Francis delivers off-the-cuff riff on family life — 2015 •(no longer used) The belly; the bowels. verb3 •To improvise in the performance or practice of an art, especially by expanding on or making novel use of traditional themes.She riffed on the Olympic judges, the bobsled team, then ad-libbed with a woman drinking a martini at the front table. — 2006 •To tell jokes over a movie or similar performance.A bad sci-fi movie is often ludicrous and silly and ripe for riffing. A bad comedy is usually just dull. — 2015 •To riffle.He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a wellworn deck of cards. He hated Saturday duty. He cut the deck and riffed the two halves together. — 2010 formsriffed · riffing · riffs
