bluff

1. 1.

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

   Synonymsbluff out

   Broadermove

   card game

2. 2.

   frighten someone by pretending to be stronger than one really is

   Broaderfrighten

1. 1.

   very steep; having a prominent and almost vertical front

   “a bluff headland”

   “where the bold chalk cliffs of England rise”

   “a sheer descent of rock”

   Synonymsboldsheer

   Similarsteep
2. 2.

   bluntly direct and outspoken but good-natured

   “a bluff but pleasant manner”

   “a bluff and rugged natural leader”

   Similardirect

Other forms of bluff

plural

bluffs·

past tense

bluffed·

present participle

bluffing·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about bluff

What does bluff mean?

bluff means "a high steep bank (usually formed by river erosion)". That is the primary sense; the word has 7 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in bluff?

bluff has 1 syllable: bluff. In IPA it is /ˈblʌf/.

What is another word for bluff?

Close synonyms include four flush, bluff out, bold, sheer. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is bluff a common word?

bluff is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.