riff
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Analysts at Nomura describe it as a classic "picks and shovels" trade, a riff on how selling tools during a gold rush can earn people more than searching for the precious metal.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
Unlike grilled Caesar salad, Lawson’s riff on a classic is essentially baked lettuce.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
So do the animal-shaped wool carpets that riff on traditional skin rugs by using vegetarian-friendly materials to create colorful, flattened creatures: a fiery, spotted cheetah; a purple-striped dodo; a particularly silly mammoth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
This month, “Cool Machine,” a riff on 1980s New York in the form of a tightly plotted crime novel, arrives from Colson Whitehead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
As the rapid guitar riff went off, the Boggs Ferry Raccoons emerged, their gray-and-black uniforms sparkling in the disco lights.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
Instead, consider Jane Schoenbrun’s Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, which riffs on slasher films like Sleepaway Camp and Friday the 13th.
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2026
There are bulletproof pop melodies, gentle riffs, solid construction, and engaging stories.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026
Mr. Day’s lushly orchestrated score, sweetly tonal throughout and full of harp riffs, is paced with a mellow sameness that even the frequent big climaxes can’t jolt into dramatic excitement or dangerous energy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
The room is overtaken with projections, scenes of bustling New York traffic paired with bachelor-pad-like guitar riffs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
A high-pitched howl wailed over frenetic guitar riffs, followed by booming drums.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
President Donald Trump riffed on his White House predecessors in a children's podcast Friday, while also joking about his weight and musing as to whether his body is swimsuit-ready.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
Bono has, for decades, riffed on this concept: “America isn’t just a country, it’s an idea.”
From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2026
A third riffed off the album title: “New York all the time. Other places, occasionally.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2026
At a crypto event in June, a video that riffed on an old movie showed Tenev speeding through the French Riviera in a convertible.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 26, 2025
Magic Jay, Jimmy L’s secret agent name, was riffed from his favorite basketball player, the legendary Magic Johnson.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
The bar is decorated with references to China's AI boom, with logos of the country's major labs on the walls and the menu full of jokes riffing on tech jargon.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
During the show’s monologue, Colbert was riffing on Starbucks opening in Italy when a couple and their son sitting in the audience interrupted him.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
So no one should think this was just Sotomayor riffing off the cuff.
From Slate ● Apr. 10, 2026
Giving it three stars, she says the overall feeling was that the show "did work", with some "proper jokes for grown-ups" especially in the Weekend Update section riffing on the news.
From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2026
He was riffing about on his acoustic guitar.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
