read the riot act
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.
She said she was told he had been "read the riot act" but had no formal punishment.
From BBC • Jun. 20, 2025
She sang with Muppets, talked with the aliens and read the riot act to Philip Seymour Hoffman.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 1, 2024
"It reads a lot like a stern but polite reprimand of a child caught red handed who needs to be read the riot act," he wrote.
From Salon • Sep. 22, 2022
Washington was also a different team in the second half after getting read the riot act by Rivera.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 13, 2021
He came, too, and you ought to have heard him read the riot act to those fellows: “‘We've got a sick man here—a stranger, far from his home.
From The Story of a Doctor's Telephone?Told by His Wife by Firebaugh, Ellen M.
