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.
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.
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.
Idioms
call someone's bluff, to expose a person's deception; challenge someone to carry out a threat: He always said he would quit, so we finally called his bluff.
Origin of bluff
2
1665–75; perhaps < Low Germanbluffen to bluster, frighten; akin to Middle Dutchbluffen to make a trick at cards
Related formsbluff·a·ble, adjectivebluff·er, nounun·bluff·a·ble, adjectiveun·bluffed, adjectiveun·bluff·ing, adjective
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.
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.
n.2
1844 as an alternative name for poker; from bluff (v.). As "an act of bluffing" by 1864.
