German

Noun

Riff n ‎(genitive Riffs or Riffes, plural Riffe)

1. reef

Declension

Etymology 2

From English riff.

Noun

Riff m, n ‎(genitive Riffs or Riffes, plural Riffs)

1. riff (instrumental melody line)

Declension

English

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'”, in 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.

4. A spoof.
   • 26 June 2014, A.A Dowd, AV Club Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler spoof rom-com clichés in They Came Together

     The creative team has experience with spoofing: Both Rudd and Poehler had parts in Wain’s Wet Hot American Summer, a hysterically irreverent riff on ’80s summer-camp comedies.

Translations

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

French

Noun

riff m ‎(plural riffs)

1. (music) riff

Spanish

Noun

riff m ‎(plural riffs)

1. (music) riff