bluffing 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of bluffingnext
as in pretending

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

bluffing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of bluff
1
as in fooling
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 assuming
to present a false appearance of the basketball player bluffed a shot, then passed instead

Synonyms & Similar Words

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bluffing
  1. fooling
  2. pretending
  3. duplicitous
  4. assuming
  5. hypocritical
  6. deceiving
  7. simulating
  8. insincere
Verb
  • At one point, Stevenson, who is entering his second season, even let out a deep sigh when asked about the difficulty of covering Allen, a seasoned vet skilled in fooling defensive backs.
    Jon Greenberg, The Athletic, 21 Aug. 2024
  • Feminist activism wasn’t based on fooling women to give up something great.
    Marissa C. Rhodes / Made by History, TIME, 8 Oct. 2024
Definition of fooling
Verb
  • So the co-producer is pretending the screenwriter’s work was infringed upon.
    Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Dec. 2024
  • But [Star Wars] played a big part in how my imagination blossomed as a child, while running around my yard or the schoolyard, pretending to be those characters.
    Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Dec. 2024
Definition of pretending
Adjective
  • After the first installment ended with the duplicitous destruction of House Atreides, viewers really needed to see some catharsis, and Villeneuve’s team delivered that in spades.
    EW Staff, EW.com, 5 Dec. 2024
  • The lawyer was brought in by a nemesis of the Dutton ranching family to bring them ruin, but ends up having an affair with John's duplicitous son, Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley).
    Tom Rogers, Newsweek, 25 Nov. 2024
Definition of duplicitous
Verb
  • The ousting of Assad, who ruled Syria for a quarter century after assuming power from his father, leaves a dangerous political vacuum.
    Scott Neuman, NPR, 10 Dec. 2024
  • The Trojans are trending toward losing their entire starting secondary, assuming safety Kamari Ramsey declares for the draft as planned.
    Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 10 Dec. 2024
Definition of assuming
Adjective
  • And to sit up there, man, and to be just blatantly hypocritical is funny and sickening at the same time.
    Stephan Pechdimaldji, Newsweek, 14 Dec. 2024
  • If an organization’s culture is aspirational rather than lived and practiced, the result is often a hypocritical, inauthentic hiring experience.
    Lori Landrum, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2024
Definition of hypocritical
Verb
  • What were once simple schemes have now turned into complex operations capable of deceiving even the most tech-savvy individuals.
    Kody Boye, USA TODAY, 6 Dec. 2024
  • And what happens next is so deceiving.
    Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 28 Nov. 2024
Definition of deceiving
Verb
  • Decision support systems powered with AI are assisting military leaders by analyzing vast amounts of data, simulating scenarios in real-time, and then suggesting optimal strategies based on various conditions.
    Kathleen Walch, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024
  • Moscow kicked off large-scale drills in late October, simulating a retaliatory nuclear strike.
    Jason Fields, Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2024
Definition of simulating
Adjective
  • Think of nervous smiles, insincere smiles, and smirks.
    Avery Hurt, Discover Magazine, 2 Dec. 2024
  • His argument: propaganda does not always have to be insincere or untrue.
    Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Oct. 2024
Definition of insincere
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near bluffing

bluffers

bluffing

bluffly

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Cite this Entry

“Bluffing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bluffing. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

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More from Merriam-Webster on bluffing

Nglish: Translation of bluffing for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of bluffing for Arabic Speakers

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