riff

See also Riff, and RIFF

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɹɪf/
• Rhymes: -ɪf

Noun

riff (plural riffs)

1. A repeated instrumental melody line in a song.
   • 2009 November 27, “Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child has 'best guitar riff'”, BBC:

     Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child has been named the greatest guitar riff of all time, 41 years after it was recorded, in a poll by website Music Radar.

2. A clever or witty remark.
3. A variation on something.
   • 2012, The Economist, London Skyline: Tower Power

     Both the Orbit and the Pinnacle are riffs on an idea sketched out in 1917 by Vladimir Tatlin for a monument to international communism.

Translations

repeated instrumental melody line

• Spanish: riff (es) m

clever or witty remark

Verb

riff (third-person singular simple present riffs, present participle riffing, simple past and past participle riffed)

1. To improvise in the performance or practice of an art, especially by expanding on or making novel use of traditional themes.

See also

• riff-raff
• riffraff