bluff

CEFRC1

/blʌf/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A steep cliff or a confident act of pretending.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    An attempt to represent oneself as holding a stronger hand than one actually does.

Examples

  • How did you know I was going to call your bluff?

  • We can't call their bluff.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
4

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The card game poker.

  2. An act of bluffing; a false expression of the strength of one’s position in order to intimidate or deceive; braggadocio.

  3. One who bluffs; a bluffer.

More examples

In context

  • John bluffed by betting without even a pair.

  • John’s bet was a bluff: he bet without even so much as a pair.

  • That is only bluff, or That is only a bluff.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

During the intense poker game, he tried to blank by acting like he had a winning hand.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Probably 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”).