bluff
English
editPronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /blʌf/
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Rhymes: -ʌf
Etymology 1
editProbably 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
editbluff (countable and uncountable, plural bluffs)
- (countable or uncountable) An act of bluffing; a false expression of the strength of one’s position in order to intimidate or deceive; braggadocio.
- That is only bluff, or That is only a bluff.
- (poker, countable or uncountable) 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, uncountable) The card game poker.
- 1845, Hoyle's Games:
- BLUFF OR POKER [title of a chapter]
- (countable) One who bluffs; a bluffer.
- (slang, dated, countable or uncountable) Pretense, excuse.
Derived terms
editDescendants
editTranslations
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Verb
editbluff (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, deter, or deceive with a false show of strength or confidence; to give a false impression of strength or temerity in order to intimidate or 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
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Etymology 2
editRelated to Middle Low German blaff (“smooth”).
Noun
editbluff (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
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Adjective
editbluff (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.
- 1769, William Falconer, "Côte en écore" (entry in An Universal Dictionary of the Marine)
- Surly; churlish; gruff; rough.
- 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
- […] he had a bluff, rough-and-ready face, all roughened and reddened and lined in his long travels.
- 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
editTranslations
editEtymology 3
editPossibly onomatopoeic, perhaps related to blow and puff.[1]
Verb
editbluff (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
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References
edit- ^ James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Bluff, v.2”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumes I (A–B), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 947, column 1.
- “bluff” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.
Further reading
edit- bluff on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Bluff in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
Danish
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editNoun
editbluff n
Related terms
editFrench
editEtymology
editPronunciation
editNoun
editbluff m (plural bluffs)
- (chiefly card games) bluff
Descendants
editFurther reading
edit- “bluff”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian
editEtymology
editUnadapted borrowing from English bluff.
Noun
editbluff m
Further reading
edit- bluff in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Polish
editEtymology
editUnadapted borrowing from French bluff, from English bluff.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editbluff m inan
- (card games) Alternative spelling of blef
Declension
editFurther reading
editPortuguese
editAlternative forms
edit- (Brazil) blefe
Etymology
editUnadapted borrowing from English bluff.
Pronunciation
edit
Noun
editbluff m (invariable)
Romanian
editEtymology
editUnadapted borrowing from English bluff.
Noun
editbluff n (plural bluffuri)
Declension
editsingular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) bluff | blufful | (niște) bluffuri | bluffurile |
genitive/dative | (unui) bluff | bluffului | (unor) bluffuri | bluffurilor |
vocative | bluffule | bluffurilor |
Swedish
editEtymology
editUnadapted borrowing from English bluff. According to SO attested since 1903.
Noun
editbluff 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
editDeclension of bluff | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | bluff | bluffen | bluffar | bluffarna |
Genitive | bluffs | bluffens | bluffars | bluffarnas |
Related terms
edit- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ʌf
- Rhymes:English/ʌf/1 syllable
- English terms borrowed from Dutch
- English terms derived from Dutch
- English terms derived from Middle Dutch
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- en:Poker
- American English
- English dated terms
- English terms with quotations
- English slang
- English verbs
- Manglish
- Singlish
- Canadian Prairies English
- English adjectives
- English terms with collocations
- en:Landforms
- Danish terms borrowed from English
- Danish terms derived from English
- Danish lemmas
- Danish nouns
- Danish neuter nouns
- French terms borrowed from English
- French terms derived from English
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- fr:Card games
- Italian terms borrowed from English
- Italian unadapted borrowings from English
- Italian terms derived from English
- Italian lemmas
- Italian nouns
- Italian masculine nouns
- it:Poker
- Polish terms borrowed from French
- Polish unadapted borrowings from French
- Polish terms derived from French
- Polish terms derived from English
- Polish 1-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Polish/ɛf
- Rhymes:Polish/ɛf/1 syllable
- Polish lemmas
- Polish nouns
- Polish masculine nouns
- Polish inanimate nouns
- pl:Card games
- Portuguese terms borrowed from English
- Portuguese unadapted borrowings from English
- Portuguese terms derived from English
- Portuguese 2-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese indeclinable nouns
- Portuguese countable nouns
- Portuguese masculine nouns
- pt:Poker
- Romanian terms borrowed from English
- Romanian unadapted borrowings from English
- Romanian terms derived from English
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian countable nouns
- Romanian neuter nouns
- Swedish terms borrowed from English
- Swedish unadapted borrowings from English
- Swedish terms derived from English
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- Swedish terms with usage examples
- sv:Poker