BLUFF

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bluff mean? 

• BLUFF (noun)
  The noun BLUFF has 3 senses:

1. a high steep bank (usually formed by river erosion)

2. pretense that your position is stronger than it really is

3. the act of bluffing in poker; deception by a false show of confidence in the strength of your cards

  Familiarity information: BLUFF used as a noun is uncommon.

• BLUFF (adjective)
  The adjective BLUFF has 2 senses:

1. very steep; having a prominent and almost vertical front

2. bluntly direct and outspoken but good-natured

  Familiarity information: BLUFF used as an adjective is rare.

• BLUFF (verb)
  The verb BLUFF has 2 senses:

1. deceive an opponent by a bold bet on an inferior hand with the result that the opponent withdraws a winning hand

2. frighten someone by pretending to be stronger than one really is

  Familiarity information: BLUFF used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BLUFF (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A high steep bank (usually formed by river erosion)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("bluff" is a kind of...):

bank (a long ridge or pile)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Pretense that your position is stronger than it really is

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

his bluff succeeded in getting him accepted

Hypernyms ("bluff" is a kind of...):

dissembling; feigning; pretence; pretense (pretending with intention to deceive)

Derivation:

bluff (frighten someone by pretending to be stronger than one really is)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of bluffing in poker; deception by a false show of confidence in the strength of your cards

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

bluff; four flush

Hypernyms ("bluff" is a kind of...):

deceit; deception; dissembling; dissimulation (the act of deceiving)

Derivation:

bluff (deceive an opponent by a bold bet on an inferior hand with the result that the opponent withdraws a winning hand)

• BLUFF (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Very steep; having a prominent and almost vertical front

Synonyms:

bluff; bold; sheer

Context example:

a sheer descent of rock

Similar:

steep (having a sharp inclination)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Bluntly direct and outspoken but good-natured

Context example:

a bluff and rugged natural leader

Similar:

direct (straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action)

Derivation:

bluffness (good-natured frankness)

• BLUFF (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bluff    ... he / she / it bluffs   
Past simple: bluffed   
Past participle: bluffed   
-ing form: bluffing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Deceive an opponent by a bold bet on an inferior hand with the result that the opponent withdraws a winning hand

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

bluff; bluff out

Hypernyms (to "bluff" is one way to...):

go; move (have a turn; make one's move in a game)

Domain category:

card game; cards (a game played with playing cards)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

bluff (the act of bluffing in poker; deception by a false show of confidence in the strength of your cards)

bluffer (a person who tries to bluff other people)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Frighten someone by pretending to be stronger than one really is

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "bluff" is one way to...):

affright; fright; frighten; scare (cause fear in)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody into V-ing something

Sentence example:

Sam cannot bluff Sue

Derivation:

bluff (pretense that your position is stronger than it really is)

bluffer (a person who tries to bluff other people)

 Context examples 

He was a tall man, over six feet high, and broad in proportion, and he had a bluff, rough-and-ready face, all roughened and reddened and lined in his long travels.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

He was kind to her also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they seemed to be a happy couple.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“If this is bluff upon your part, Mr. Holmes, you have chosen a bad man for your experiment. Let us have no more beating about the bush. What do you mean?”

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

High and bluff the English cog; long, black and swift the pirate galleys, like two fierce lean wolves which have seen a lordly and unsuspecting stag walk past their forest lair.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then Mr. Morris said to Dr. Seward:—Say, Jack, if that man wasn't attempting a bluff, he is about the sanest lunatic I ever saw.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Thornton’s bluff, if bluff it was, had been called.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Then he resumed his course and trotted on along the base of the bluff.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He stands before me again, his bluff hairy face irradiating with a joyful love and pride, for which I can find no description.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Do all your successes depend upon this prodigious power of bluff?

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Trotting in opposite directions along the base of a high bluff, they rounded a corner of rock and found themselves face to face.

(White Fang, by Jack London)