as in blunt
being or characterized by direct, brief, and potentially rude speech or manner
he's a bluff but good-hearted teacher
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to fool
to cause to believe what is untrue
I bluffed the interviewer into believing that I could really speak French and thus would be the perfect person to serve in the newspaper's Paris bureau
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to pretend
to present a false appearance of
the basketball player bluffed a shot, then passed instead
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of bluff
Heidi Blake, The New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2023
Though the Explorer majors much more on practicality, somehow Ford has managed to turn a fairly bluff front-end styling and generally boxy silhouette familiar to properly sensible family SUV into an attractive design.
—WIRED, 21 Mar. 2023
Paloma Chavez, Sacramento Bee, 26 Feb. 2025
Eagles Landing is a two-bedroom cabin that sleeps up to six perched on a bluff overlooking a quiet corner of Lake Fontana, a finger-lake body of water that forms the southern border of GSMNP.
—Graham Averill, Outside Online, 21 Feb. 2025
Matt Egan, CNN, 24 Jan. 2025
By doing so, Trump is continuously breaking one of the cardinal rules of international relations—great powers don't bluff.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bluff
Adjective
One day in 2010, an e-mail from Steve Wentzel, the Zimbabwean tycoon, arrived in the in-box of one of South Pole’s founders—a tall, bluff German man named Christian Dannecker.
—Heidi Blake, The New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2023
Though the Explorer majors much more on practicality, somehow Ford has managed to turn a fairly bluff front-end styling and generally boxy silhouette familiar to properly sensible family SUV into an attractive design.
—WIRED, 21 Mar. 2023
Noun
Wilder Ranch State Park sits on 7,000 acres and has 35 miles of trails through locations such as the Santa Cruz Mountains and coastal bluffs.
—Paloma Chavez, Sacramento Bee, 26 Feb. 2025
Eagles Landing is a two-bedroom cabin that sleeps up to six perched on a bluff overlooking a quiet corner of Lake Fontana, a finger-lake body of water that forms the southern border of GSMNP.
—Graham Averill, Outside Online, 21 Feb. 2025
Verb
That’s why some on Wall Street believe Trump is bluffing.
—Matt Egan, CNN, 24 Jan. 2025
By doing so, Trump is continuously breaking one of the cardinal rules of international relations—great powers don't bluff.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bluff
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bluff
Adjective
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They were forced to their knees and guards shaved their heads and faces with blunt swoops of an electric razor.—
Josh Meyer,
USA TODAY,
22 Mar. 2025
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While metal grooming tools can seem intense, they are typically designed with blunt or curved teeth to ensure that no sharp edge ever comes in contact with your cat’s skin.—
BestReviews,
Chicago Tribune,
21 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The burial chamber was uncovered at the base of a desert cliff almost 23 feet beneath Abydos, one of Egypt’s oldest cities about 300 miles south of Cairo and roughly six miles from the Nile River.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
27 Mar. 2025
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Researchers uncovered the tomb at the mountain, at the base of a high desert cliff where strong winds carry gusts of sand.—
Alan Yuhas,
New York Times,
27 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Don't let anyone fool you into abandoning the single most effective social program in our nation's history.—
John T. Harvey,
Forbes.com,
27 Mar. 2025
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Likely draft position: Early-mid rounds Cam Miller, QB, North Dakota State: Don’t be fooled by Miller spending five years at the FCS level.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
25 Mar. 2025
Verb
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But one of the show’s most viral clips is much more representative: The veteran SNL writer Jim Downey pretends to have never heard about Jeffrey Epstein’s misdeeds, to O’Brien’s bleating objections.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
22 Mar. 2025
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Appearing in his second Saturday Night Live-adjacent film after Wayne's World, Lowe played the villainous Paul Barrish, Tommy's older stepbrother, who plots to take over his father's company with help from his secret lover, partner-in-crime, and pretend mother, Beverly (played by Bo Derek).—
Mike Miller,
EW.com,
22 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The abrupt cutoff of funds has led to a scramble to pay for food for malnourished children in Sudan, health care for refugees from Myanmar, and maternal health services in Yemen.—
Chen Reis,
The Conversation,
21 Mar. 2025
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Cool, calm weather can extend the length of the bloom, and a rainy, windy day can bring an abrupt end to the ephemeral blossoms.—
Jennifer Borresen,
USA TODAY,
20 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The rim is a 1,200-foot-tall escarpment that rises dramatically above a broad valley, giving you the perfect perch for spotting the show.—
Graham Averill,
Outside Online,
3 Mar. 2025
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During that time, the rover traveled about 1.2 miles along escarpments researchers believe were once part of an ocean shore 4 billion years ago.—
Monica Cull,
Discover Magazine,
24 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Increasingly, criminals are able to use commonly available tools to launch sophisticated phishing scams, going as far as digitally replicating faces and voices in order to trick security systems.—
Bernard Marr,
Forbes,
20 Mar. 2025
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Phishing is a cyber-attack that aims to trick people into divulging personal information.—
Solcyré Burga,
TIME,
13 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Taiwan's largest annual war games, held to simulate responses to a possible Chinese invasion, will publicly assume a full-scale attack for the first time in 2027.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
19 Mar. 2025
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From simulating the flow of people, goods, utilities and other life support systems to predicting emergency impacts, digital twins provide a vital, real-time lens into urban complexities.—
Timothy Papandreou,
Forbes,
18 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bluff.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bluff. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.
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