Bluff Definition
blŭf
bluffer, bluffest, bluffing, bluffs
verb
bluffing, bluffs
To engage in a false display of confidence or aggression in order to deceive or intimidate someone.
The management debated if there would really be a strike or if the union was bluffing.
American Heritage
To frighten (a person) by threats not intended to be carried out.
Webster's New World
To make a display of aggression, as by charging or baring the teeth, as a means of intimidating another animal.
American Heritage
To mislead or seek to mislead (a person) by a false, bold front.
Webster's New World
To manage to get (one's way) by bluffing.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
- reveal
- tell truth
- come-clean
noun
bluffs
The act or practice of bluffing.
Webster's New World
A person who bluffs.
Webster's New World
A high, steep, broad-faced bank or cliff.
Webster's New World
A high, steep bank, as by a river or the sea, or beside a ravine or plain; a cliff with a broad face.
Wiktionary
(poker) An attempt to represent yourself as holding a stronger hand than you do.
John's bet was a bluff: he bet without even so much as a pair.
Wiktionary
Synonyms:
- four-flush
- swasher
- swashbucklery
- shammer
- saltimbanco
- quackster
- hectorer
- bucko
- blagueur
- biggety
- herod
- delusion
- deception
- ruse
- steep
adjective
bluffer, bluffest
Having, or ascending steeply with, a broad, flat front.
Webster's New World
Having a rough and frank but affable manner.
Webster's New World
pronoun
The southernmost town in the South Island of New Zealand, and seaport for the Southland region.
Wiktionary
idiom
bluff (one's) way
- To deceive someone or accomplish something by making a false display.
American Heritage
Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Bluff
- bluff (one's) way
Origin of Bluff
Probably from obsolete Dutch blaf or Middle Low German blaff broad
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
-
From Dutch bluffen (“brag”) or bluf (“bragging”).
From Wiktionary
Related to Middle Low German blaff, "smooth".
From Wiktionary
Origin unknown
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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