riffle
/ˈɹɪfəl/noun, verb
riffle is spelled R-I-F-F-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 74,980th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, riffle means “A swift, shallow part of a stream causing broken water” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of riffle is riffles.
How many letters and syllables are in riffle?
| Letters | 6: R-I-F-F-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 74,980th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is riffle?
Riffle appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 74,980th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce riffle?
- /ˈɹɪfəl/
Riffle has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-riffle.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of riffle
- riffles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- riffling participle, present
- riffled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does riffle mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A swift, shallow part of a stream causing broken water.
- 2
A succession of small waves.
- 3
A trough or sluice having cleats, grooves, or steps across the bottom for holding quicksilver and catching particles of gold when auriferous earth is washed. Also one of the cleats, grooves or steps in such trough.
- 4
A quick skim through the pages of a book.
- 5
Synonym of riffle shuffle
- 6
The sound made while shuffling cards.
- 7
In seal engraving, a small metal disc at the end of a tool.
verb
- 1
To flow over a swift, shallow part of a stream.
- 2
To ruffle with a rippling action.
- 3
To skim or flick through the pages of a book.
- 4
To leaf through rapidly.
Near-synonym: rifle
- 5
To shuffle playing cards by separating the deck in two and sliding the thumbs along the edges of the cards to mix the two parts.
- 6
To idly manipulate objects with the fingers.
- 7
To prepare samples of material using a riffler.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does riffle come from?
Possible alteration of ruffle, from Middle English ruffelen, akin to Low German ruffelen (“to crumple”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).