/blʌf/, /blɐf/, /blʊf/
OriginProbably from Dutch bluffen (“to brag”), from Middle Dutch bluffen (“to make something swell; to bluff”); or from the Dutch noun bluf (“bragging”). Related to German verblüffen (“to stump, perplex”).
- countable, uncountableAn act of bluffing; a false expression of the strength of one’s position in order to intimidate or deceive; braggadocio.
“That is only bluff, or That is only a bluff.”
- countable, uncountableAn attempt to represent oneself as holding a stronger hand than one actually does.
“John’s bet was a bluff: he bet without even so much as a pair.”
- US, dated, uncountableThe card game poker.
“BLUFF OR POKER [title of a chapter]”
- countableOne who bluffs; a bluffer.
- countable, dated, slang, uncountablePretense, excuse.
- A high, steep bank, for example by a river or the sea, or beside a ravine or plain; a cliff with a broad face.
“In the sketch (which is taken about 75 Jovian days after that of the 2nd July) there is shown a dark copper-coloured streak along the southern margin of the south brown belt, butting on to a bluff-hea”
“It seems there was a worm that slept upon a pile of treasure, which it had zealously heaped up under a stone bluff.”
“Bounded to the north and west by mountains and river, to the east by river alone, and to the south by high bluffs that mark the beginning of the loess country, it is a compact and easily defended terr”
- Canadian-PrairiesA small wood or stand of trees, typically poplar or willow.
- To make a bluff; to give the impression that one’s hand is stronger than it is.
“John bluffed by betting without even a pair.”
- To frighten, deter, or deceive with a false show of strength or confidence; to give a false impression of strength or temerity in order to intimidate or gain some advantage.
“The government claims it will call an election if this bill does not pass. Is it truly ready to do so, or is it bluffing?”
- To perform or achieve by bluffing.
“We bluffed our way past the guards.”
- Manglish, SinglishTo give false information intentionally, to lie (to someone), to deceive; to put on an act.
“Vinod, you want to bluff the doctor, your mother, father, uncle, auntie, CMPB all that I don't care. But you cannot bluff me.”
- To fluff, puff or swell up.
“Not a sparrow on the cottage thatch, where the chimney's warmth had thawed the snow, that did not seem to have his great coat on, so bluffed out were the feathers, and not a frozen-out duck who did no”
“[W]hen the bare boughs of a tree intervened between her and the rising bright but deep red sun, frosted as the twigs were, on them sat a merry flock of sparrows, the feathers on their breasts bluffed ”
“I remember one idle bright afternoon here when Phillip bluffed out his little chest, sneaking expectant glances back at me and Cammy, until she "restrained" him from bickering with that beagle.”
- Having a broad, flattened front.
“the bluff bows of a ship”
- Rising steeply with a flat or rounded front.
“a bluff or bold shore”
“Its banks, if not really steep, had a bluff and precipitous aspect.”
- Surly; churlish; gruff; rough.
“[…] he had a bluff, rough-and-ready face, all roughened and reddened and lined in his long travels.”
- Roughly frank and hearty in one's manners.
“a bluff answer”
“a bluff manner of talking”
“a bluff sea captain”
- A town in Southland, New Zealand, the southernmost in the South Island, and seaport for the Southland region.
“Former name: Campbelltown”
Formsbluffs(plural) · bluffs(present, singular, third-person) · bluffing(participle, present) · bluffed(participle, past) · bluffed(past) · bluffer(comparative) · bluffest(superlative)