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bluff

bluff

64 5.5
An attempt to trick someone by showing false strength, for example in poker
  • noun
  • /blʌf/
translation icon : farol
  • David felt small for calling her bluff and thought of her friend who'd died.
  • call the bluff

So Noske had essentially called von Lutvitz's bluff and refused the general's demands.

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Examples

  • I knew that good poker strategy recommended allowing yourself to be caught in a failed bluff sometimes.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Basic rule: Always call their bluff.

  • No bluff, it's the Union calling a bluff that the company was putting out there.

    Blog text (18)
  • I think that was a mistake, but sometimes in a poker game a bluff wins the pot.

  • And now, since he called your idiotic bluff, he knows it, too.

  • They're calling our bluff, sir.

  • I called his bluff, sweetheart, that's all.

  • You called their bluff.

  • I'm calling his bluff.

  • In poker, a well-timed bluff can often lead to winning a hand without showing your cards.

Synonyms

ploy
vsbluff
85 4.9

A clever trick used to gain an advantage in talk or negotiation

often relies on pretending greater strength or confidence to deceive others
ruse
vsbluff
53 7.7

A clever trick to deceive someone

focuses on faking a stronger position or greater confidence to mislead
four flush
vsbluff
  • Archaic
9.9

An attempt to trick others by pretending to have a strong poker hand or more success than you have

is the general tactic used beyond poker in many situations
jiggery-pokery
vsbluff
  • Archaic
9.9

Dishonest actions that try to trick people

is a specific show of stronger position or confidence to mislead others

Antonyms

1.0

A fact that shows how things really are

365 1.0

Being truthful and fair in what you say and do

Idioms

2 6.3

Challenge someone to prove they are serious when you think they are not

Compounds

A game where a blindfolded player tries to catch and guess who touched them

How Deceptive

fraud
577 4.0
con
  • Informal
107 7.2
ruse
53 7.7
bluff
64 5.5
ploy
85 4.9
to feint
2 8.2

Surface Forms

bluff singular
bluffs plural

Etymology

Bluff The noun bluff meaning a false threat or trick likely comes from the Dutch word bluffen meaning 'to brag' or from the image of 'puffing up' to look stronger than you are. So a bluff is a show of strength that may be only pretend.