as in condemnation
an often public or formal expression of disapproval
at a specially called meeting, he read the riot act to his staff for their poor handling of the crisis
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Examples of riot act in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Expert John reads him the riot act, and says that Timmy is either going to have to give Lucinda a smooch and lean into the affection — or the relationship is dunzo.
—
Alexandra Koster, refinery29.com, 11 Feb. 2024
That includes the recent case of James Young, which the Daily News first reported last month, who wasn’t transferred to a medical facility for a highly contagious MRSA infection until Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Dora Irizarry read Bureau of Prisons lawyers and prosecutors the riot act.
—John Annese, New York Daily News, 4 Jan. 2024
Linda spots her tree amidst the blinding lights and snatches the DJ's mic to read the crowd the riot act.
—EW.com, 27 Nov. 2023
Reading ‘em the riot act: In the Week 5 win over the Rams, DeMarcus Lawrence gathered all the defensive players together in the bench area after a bad series and delivered a fire-and-brimstone speech.
—Dallas News, 17 Oct. 2022
Reich is 4-4 against the Titans in his four seasons in Indianapolis, but the Colts have lost four of their last five against Mike Vrabel’s Titans, and after the first loss on the road last season, Irsay read his coaching staff the riot act.
—The Indianapolis Star, 2 Oct. 2022
During the questioning, Kayla ignores Torres' instructions to wait in the car, and Vance reads her the riot act.
—Sara Netzley, EW.com, 8 Mar. 2022
M-Rod and Sanoe Lake come to clean the room Kate Bosworth is a guest in (awkward) and read her the riot act for choosing a guy over surfing.
—Emma Specter, Vogue, 11 Mar. 2022
Around 2016, senior SEAL commander Jamie Sands read the East Coast teams the riot act.
—Catherine Herridge, CBS News, 30 Apr. 2021
Alexandra Koster, refinery29.com, 11 Feb. 2024
That includes the recent case of James Young, which the Daily News first reported last month, who wasn’t transferred to a medical facility for a highly contagious MRSA infection until Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Dora Irizarry read Bureau of Prisons lawyers and prosecutors the riot act.
—John Annese, New York Daily News, 4 Jan. 2024
Linda spots her tree amidst the blinding lights and snatches the DJ's mic to read the crowd the riot act.
—EW.com, 27 Nov. 2023
Reading ‘em the riot act: In the Week 5 win over the Rams, DeMarcus Lawrence gathered all the defensive players together in the bench area after a bad series and delivered a fire-and-brimstone speech.
—Dallas News, 17 Oct. 2022
Reich is 4-4 against the Titans in his four seasons in Indianapolis, but the Colts have lost four of their last five against Mike Vrabel’s Titans, and after the first loss on the road last season, Irsay read his coaching staff the riot act.
—The Indianapolis Star, 2 Oct. 2022
During the questioning, Kayla ignores Torres' instructions to wait in the car, and Vance reads her the riot act.
—Sara Netzley, EW.com, 8 Mar. 2022
M-Rod and Sanoe Lake come to clean the room Kate Bosworth is a guest in (awkward) and read her the riot act for choosing a guy over surfing.
—Emma Specter, Vogue, 11 Mar. 2022
Around 2016, senior SEAL commander Jamie Sands read the East Coast teams the riot act.
—Catherine Herridge, CBS News, 30 Apr. 2021
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'riot act.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Riot act.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/riot%20act. Accessed 29 Sep. 2024.
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