riffnoun [ C ]
uk/rɪf/us/rɪf/in jazz or popular music, a tune that continues or appears regularly in a piece of music while other parts change or are added:
The song is punctuated by long guitar riffs.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Musical pieces
- arrangement
- bolero
- bossa nova
- Britannia
- cantata
- fantasia
- melody
- nocturne
- octet
- opus
- passage
- playlist
- reel
- signature tune
- solo
- song form
- string quartet
- symphony
- trio
- tune
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riffverb [ I ]
uk/rɪf/us/rɪf/riff verb [ I ] (PLAY MUSIC)
in jazz or popular music, to play a short, repeated series of notes :
The singer growled over acoustic guitar while his bandmates riffed on banjo, ukulele and fiddle.
riff verb [ I ] (SPEAK)
to speak for a long time on a particular subject, especially in a humorous way:
He strutted and riffed on topics from global warming to parenthood.