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🎭 To pretend 🃏 A fake threat ⛰️ A steep cliff 🤝 Direct and friendly 🪨 Very steep
to bluff

to bluff

106 5.6
To try to trick someone by showing false strength
  • verb
  • /blʌf/
: hacer un farol
  • She tried to bluff her way through the negotiation, pretending she had a better offer.
  • just bluffing

Or if I bluff, people will believe me.

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Examples

Synonyms

to lie
vsto bluff
∞ 1.3

To say something that is not true to trick someone

uses a confident posture or stronger position as the specific deceptive method
to trick
vsto bluff
289 3.5

To make someone believe something false so you can get what you want

relies on cunning or schemes rather than primarily posing strength or confidence
to deceive
vsto bluff
229 3.9

To make someone believe something that is not true to get an advantage

is specifically about pretending strength or confidence to influence or frighten
to fake
vsto bluff
191 4.8

To pretend you know something when you do not

focuses on pretending stronger position or confidence rather than mere insincerity
to bamboozle
vsto bluff
  • Informal
12 8.3

To trick someone by pretending you want to help them

relies on showing strength or confidence rather than false friendliness or schemes
to spoof
vsto bluff
8 6.0

Pretend to be a person or website online to trick people

deceives by acting stronger or more confident, not by imitation
to play (someone) for a fool
vsto bluff
  • Offensive
8 7.4

Treat someone as stupid to trick or cheat them

aims to appear stronger or more confident rather than to target perceived naivety
to bluff out
vsto bluff
  • Informal
2 7.5

To make an opponent give up by pretending you have more power

is used more broadly to influence or frighten beyond forcing withdrawal

Antonyms

to reveal
∞ 2.3

Show something that was hidden or secret

Idioms

to call someone's bluff
  • Informal
28 6.3

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

Phrasal Verbs

to bluff out
  • Informal
2 7.5

To make an opponent give up by pretending you have more power

to bluff one's way through
  • Informal
7.4

Succeed in a difficult situation by pretending to know what you are doing

Compounds

blindman's bluff
1 5.6

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

How Deceptive

to defraud
  • Formal
38 6.9
to deceive
229 3.9
to trick
289 3.5
to bluff
106 5.6
to mislead
152 3.9

Surface Forms

bluff infinitive
bluffed past
bluffed past participle
bluffing present participle
bluffs third person singular

Etymology

Bluff To bluff someone as a verb comes from the same idea as the noun, from Dutch bluffen 'to brag' or the picture of 'puffing up' to seem stronger. So to bluff is to pretend you have more power or confidence to make others back down.