bluff
pronunciation
How to pronounce bluff in British English:
UK [blʌf]
How to pronounce bluff in American English:
US [blʌf]
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- Noun:
- a high steep bank (usually formed by river erosion)
- pretense that your position is stronger than it really is
- the act of bluffing in poker; deception by a false show of confidence in the strength of your cards
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- Verb:
- deceive an opponent by a bold bet on an inferior hand with the result that the opponent withdraws a winning hand
- frighten someone by pretending to be stronger than one really is
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- Adjective:
- very steep; having a prominent and almost vertical front
- bluntly direct and outspoken but good-natured
Word Origin
- bluff
- bluff: English has two words bluff, one or perhaps both of them of Dutch origin. The older, ‘hearty’ [17], originally referred to ships, and meant ‘having a flat vertical bow’. This nautical association suggests a Dutch provenance, though no thoroughly convincing source has been found. The sense ‘flat, vertical, (and broad)’ came to be applied to land features, such as cliffs (hence the noun bluff ‘high steep bank’, which emerged in America in the 18th century).The word’s metaphorical extension to people was at first derogatory – ‘rough, blunt’ – but the more favourable ‘hearty’ had developed by the early 19th century. Bluff ‘deceive’ [19] was originally a US poker term. It comes from Dutch bluffen ‘boast’, the descendant of Middle Dutch bluffen ‘swell up’.
- bluff (v.)
- 1839, American English, poker term, perhaps from Dutch bluffen "to brag, boast," or verbluffen "to baffle, mislead." An identical word meant "blindfold, hoodwink" in 1670s, but the sense evolution and connection are unclear; OED calls it "one of the numerous cant terms ... which arose between the Restoration and the reign of Queen Anne." Extended or figurative sense by 1854. Related: Bluffed; bluffing.
- bluff (n.1)
- "broad, vertical cliff," 1680s, from bluff (adj.) "with a broad, flat front" (1620s), a sailors' word, probably from Dutch blaf "flat, broad." Apparently a North Sea nautical term for ships with flat vertical bows, later extended to landscape features.
- bluff (n.2)
- 1844 as an alternative name for poker; from bluff (v.). As "an act of bluffing" by 1864.
Example
- 1. These provocations cannot be discounted as pure bluff .
- 2. Mr singh should call ms banerjee 's bluff .
- 3. In reality , they 're trying to cajole , bluff and calm their audience of global money-sloshers .
- 4. The investigator went on to bluff that there was a video camera in the room , though the recording , with its definitive proof one way or the other , would not be accessible until later .
- 5. But this bluff is hugely risky .