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in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Probably 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 ” ) .
Noun
bluff (countable and uncountable , plural bluffs )
An act of bluffing; a false expression of the strength of one's position in order to intimidate ; braggadocio .
That is only bluff , or a bluff .
( poker ) An 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 ) The card game poker .
1845 , Hoyle's Games :BLUFF OR POKER [title of a chapter ]
One who bluffs; a bluffer .
( slang , dated ) An excuse .
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
act of bluffing
Albanian: please add this translation if you can
Armenian: բլեֆ (hy) m ( blef )
Bulgarian: блъф m ( blǎf ) , блъфиране n ( blǎfirane )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 虚张声势 (zh) ( xūzhāngshēngshì )
Dutch: bluffen (nl)
Esperanto: blufo
Estonian: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: harhautus (fi) , hämäys (fi) , bluffi (fi) , bluffaus
Galician: andrómena (gl) f , alburgada f , algaruxada f , algueiro m , padumada f , grila (gl) f , grola f
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: Bluffen n
Greek: please add this translation if you can
Hebrew: please add this translation if you can
Hungarian: blöff (hu)
Italian: bluff (it) m
Persian: بلوف (fa) ( bluf )
Polish: blef (pl) m , bluff (pl) m
Portuguese: bluff (pt) m , blefe (pt) m ( Brazil )
Romanian: please add this translation if you can
Russian: блеф (ru) m ( blef )
Slovak: please add this translation if you can
Slovene: blefiranje n , pretvarjanje n
Spanish: farol (es) m
Swedish: bluff (sv) c
Tagalog: wikang palagwa , palipad-hangin , lastog , kalastugan
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: blöf (tr)
Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can
poker: attempt to represent yourself as holding a stronger hand than you do
Verb
bluff (third-person singular simple present bluffs , present participle bluffing , simple past and past participle bluffed )
( poker ) 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.
( by analogy ) To frighten or deter with a false show of strength or confidence; to give a false impression of strength or temerity in order to intimidate and 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 take advantage by bluffing.
We bluffed our way past the guards.
( Manglish , Singlish ) To give false information intentionally ; to lie ; to deceive
Derived terms
Translations
to scare with a false show of strength
Albanian: please add this translation if you can
Armenian: please add this translation if you can
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Esperanto: blufi (eo)
Estonian: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: bluffata (fi)
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: bluffen (de)
Hebrew: בִּלֵּף (he) ( billéf )
Hungarian: please add this translation if you can
Italian: bluffare (it)
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Polish: blefować (pl) impf , zablefować pf , bluffować impf , zabluffować pf
Portuguese: enganar (pt) , iludir (pt) , ludibriar (pt) , blefar (pt) ( Brazil )
Romanian: please add this translation if you can
Slovak: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: please add this translation if you can
Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can
Etymology 2
Related to Middle Low German blaff ( “ smooth ” ) .
Noun
bluff (plural bluffs )
A high, steep bank , for example by a river or the sea, or beside a ravine or plain; a cliff with a broad face.
2020 , David Farrier, “Thin Cities”, in Footprints , 4th Estate, →ISBN :Situated on bluffs above the Huangpu, a tributary of the Yangtze, Shanghai—which means ‘above the sea’—is sinking.
( Canadian Prairies ) A small wood or stand of trees, typically poplar or willow .
Derived terms
Translations
high, steep bank
Apache:
Western Apache: chʼinágohíʼáá
Bulgarian: отвесен бряг m ( otvesen brjag )
Dutch: klip (nl) f , klip (nl) f
Finnish: jyrkänne (fi)
French: falaise (fr) f
German: Steilufer (de) n , Felsufer n , Klippe (de) f , Steilhang (de) m , Steilküste (de) f
Irish: leathaill f
Italian: scogliera (it) f
Maori: matapari
Navajo: deezʼá
Portuguese: falésia (pt) f , ribanceira (pt) f , despenhadeiro (pt) m , precipício (pt) m
Russian: утёс (ru) m ( utjós ) , обры́в (ru) m ( obrýv ) , отве́сный бе́рег m ( otvésnyj béreg )
Slovene: pečina f
Welsh: clogwyn (cy) m , dibyn m
Adjective
bluff (comparative bluffer , superlative bluffest )
Having a broad, flattened front.
the bluff bows of a ship
Rising steeply with a flat or rounded front.
1769 , William Falconer , "Côte en écore" (entry in An Universal Dictionary of the Marine )
a bluff or bold shore
1845 , Sylvester Judd , Margaret: A Tale of the Real and the Ideal, Blight and Bloom; Including Sketches of a Place Not Before Described, Called Mons Christi :Its banks, if not really steep, had a bluff and precipitous aspect.
Surly; churlish ; gruff; rough.
Roughly frank and hearty in one's manners.
Synonyms: abrupt , unceremonious , blunt , brusque
a bluff answer
a bluff manner of talking
a bluff sea captain
1832 , [Isaac Taylor ], Saturday Evening. , London: Holdsworth and Ball, →OCLC :There is indeed a bluff pertinacity which is a proper defence in a moment of surprise.
Derived terms
Translations
having a broad, flattened front
rising steeply with a flat or rounded front
surly; churlish; gruff; rough
abrupt; roughly frank; unceremonious; blunt; brusque
Etymology 3
Possibly onomatopoeic , perhaps related to blow and puff .
Verb
bluff (third-person singular simple present bluffs , present participle bluffing , simple past and past participle bluffed )
To fluff , puff or swell up.
1866 , Grantley F[itzhardinge] Berkeley , “Incidents of Sport”, in My Life and Recollections. Complete in Four Volumes , volume III, London: Hurst and Blackett , publishers, successors to Henry Colburn , , →OCLC , page 124 :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 not glance up at the icicles hanging to the roof, and quack a prayer for rain.
1870 , Grantley F[itzhardinge] Berkeley , “The Fair Doe of Fernditch”, in Tales of Life and Death. In Two Volumes , volume I, London: Chapman and Hall , , →OCLC , page 117 :[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 out, as if they had donned warm winter spencers to shield them from the biting blast.
2002 , Nick Fowler , “Sunday in the Park with Sores”, in A Thing (or Two) about Curtis and Camilla , New York, N.Y.: Pantheon Books , →ISBN ; 1st Vintage Contemporaries edition, New York, N.Y.: Vintage Books , June 2003 , →ISBN , pages 285–286 :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.
Translations
References
“bluff” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition , Oxford University Press, 2004.
Further reading
Danish
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from English bluff .
Noun
bluff n
bluff
Related terms
French
Etymology
Borrowed from English bluff .
Pronunciation
Noun
bluff m (plural bluffs )
( chiefly card games ) bluff
Descendants
→ Ottoman Turkish: بلوف ( bluf )
→ Polish: bluff
Further reading
Italian
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English bluff .
Noun
bluff m
( poker ) bluff
bluff ( false expression of the strength of one's position )
Further reading
bluff in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line , Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Polish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French bluff , from English bluff .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /blɛf/
Rhymes: -ɛf
Syllabification: bluff
Noun
bluff m inan
( card games ) Alternative spelling of blef
Declension
Further reading
bluff in Wielki słownik języka polskiego , Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
bluff in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Portuguese
Alternative forms
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English bluff .
Pronunciation
Noun
bluff m (invariable )
bluff ( lie intended to deceive )
( poker ) bluff
Romanian
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English bluff .
Noun
bluff n (plural bluffuri )
bluff
Declension
Swedish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English bluff . According to SO attested since 1903.
Noun
bluff c
A bluff ( act of bluffing ) .
Synonyms: falskspel , lurendrejeri , lögn
Det är en bluff . It is a bluff .
( poker ) A bluff .
A bluff ( one who bluffs ) .
Synonyms: lurendrejare , lögnare
Han är en bluff . He is a bluff .
Declension
Related terms