SYNONYMS | EXAMPLES | WORD ORIGIN adjective, bluff·er, bluff·est. good-naturedly direct, blunt, or frank; heartily outspoken: a big, bluff, generous man.
presenting a bold and nearly perpendicular front, as a coastline: a bluff, precipitous headland.
Nautical (of the bow of a vessel) having a full, blunt form.
noun a cliff, headland, or hill with a broad, steep face.
North Dakota, Wisconsin, and the Canadian Prairie Provinces a clump or grove of trees on a prairie or other generally treeless area.
Origin of bluff 1 1620–30; perhaps < Middle Low German blaff smooth, even, or < Middle Dutch blaf broad, flat
Related forms bluff·ly , adverb bluff·ness , noun verb (used with object) to mislead by a display of strength, self-confidence, or the like: He bluffed me into believing that he was a doctor.
to gain by bluffing: He bluffed his way into the job.
Poker to deceive by a show of confidence in the strength of one's cards.
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verb (used without object) to mislead someone by presenting a bold, strong, or self-confident front: That open face makes it impossible for him to bluff.
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noun an act or instance or the practice of bluffing: Her pathetic story was all a bluff to get money from us. His assertive manner is mostly bluff.
a person who bluffs; bluffer: That big bluff doesn't have a nickel to his name.
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Origin of bluff 2 1665–75; perhaps < Low German bluffen to bluster, frighten; akin to Middle Dutch bluffen to make a trick at cards
Related forms bluff·a·ble , adjective bluff·er , noun un·bluff·a·ble , adjective un·bluffed , adjective un·bluff·ing , adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for bluff sham ,
subterfuge ,
ruse ,
cliff ,
ridge ,
hill ,
promontory ,
crag ,
pretend ,
delude ,
short ,
blunt ,
brief ,
direct ,
frank ,
rough ,
tart ,
open ,
lie ,
humbug Examples from the Web for bluff Contemporary Examples of bluff Ten days later, when the dust had settled, MSF President Joanne Liu called their bluff .
It is not easy work, but it calls the bluff of those who would say “we have to take scripture seriously.”
We end the tour on a bluff overlooking a mine in the distance.
He was bluff , inspirational to the men, a brilliant tactician.
On a bluff overlooking the sea, he pitched a tent and lived there for the next year in near total seclusion.
Historical Examples of bluff In short, though you can intimidate him, you cannot bluff him.
They ran the herds into a piskunebelow a bluff , over which they rushed and were killed.
I saw it all from the bluff , and I know the horse turned over upon you.
At the door she met a bluff , big man, gross from head to foot.
"The place ought to be worth thirty thousand," he said, for a bluff .
British Dictionary definitions for bluff verb to pretend to be confident about an uncertain issue or to have undisclosed resources, in order to influence or deter (someone)
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noun deliberate deception intended to create the impression of a stronger position or greater resources than one actually has
call someone's bluff to challenge someone to give proof of his claims
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Derived Forms bluffer , noun Word Origin for bluff C19: originally US poker-playing term, from Dutch bluffen to boast
noun a steep promontory, bank, or cliff, esp one formed by river erosion on the outside bend of a meander
Canadian a clump of trees on the prairie; copse
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adjective good-naturedly frank and hearty
(of a bank, cliff, etc) presenting a steep broad face
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Derived Forms bluffly , adverb bluffness , noun Word Origin for bluff C17 (in the sense: nearly perpendicular): perhaps from Middle Dutch blaf broad
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for bluff v. 1839, American English, poker term, perhaps from Dutch bluffen "to brag, boast," or verbluffen "to baffle, mislead." An identical word meant "blindfold, hoodwink" in 1670s, but the sense evolution and connection are unclear; OED calls it "one of the numerous cant terms ... which arose between the Restoration and the reign of Queen Anne." Extended or figurative sense by 1854. Related: Bluffed ; bluffing .
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n.1 "broad, vertical cliff," 1680s, from bluff (adj.) "with a broad, flat front" (1620s), a sailors' word, probably from Dutch blaf "flat, broad." Apparently a North Sea nautical term for ships with flat vertical bows, later extended to landscape features.
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n.2 1844 as an alternative name for poker ; from bluff (v.). As "an act of bluffing" by 1864.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with bluff see call someone's bluff.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
