bluff
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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Some interpreted the move as the market calling the Federal Reserve’s bluff.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
“I think the best way to put it is that the market is calling his bluff on inflation,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
At least 25 people have died on California beaches due to coastal landslides, and many in San Diego’s North County are still reeling from a 2019 bluff collapse that killed three women in Encinitas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
“And he doesn’t bluff, either. What he does is groom us. He prepares us for things that would otherwise be unthinkable.”
From Salon ● May 26, 2026
When we reach the bluff, Babs points to a patch of dense thickets surrounding its base.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
He said he thought Mr McCormack was a bluffer because he was saying: "You have options, or else" which Mr Williams saw as "a threat".
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2024
He was a bluffer, implying he advised people he didn’t, and a leaker, ratting out his allies in pursuit of his own agenda.
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2016
A bluffer, a gambler… he’d rather do it the hard way.
From New York Times ● Feb. 29, 2012
He'd been a bit of a bluffer at his first musical conservatoire.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 23, 2010
The other—the half of her I should say—showed a much bluffer bow, and had been a vessel of some burthen.
From The Honour of the Flag by W. Clark (William Clark) Russell
Preparatory work had been done by a committee headed by Arthur Balfour Baron Riverdale of Sheffield, 62, one of Britain's biggest, baldest, blondest, bluffest steel tycoons.
From Time Magazine Archive
Biggest and bluffest of the four executive vice presidents is balding, 61-year-old Marvin E. Coyle, known as "Mr. Facts & Figures."
From Time Magazine Archive
At this stroke the man began to get angry; he frowned, and in his bluffest tone, began: "Look here now, you—" "Ta, ta, ta," interrupted M. Lecoq.
From The Mystery of Orcival by Émile Gaboriau
Among the latter may be classed Karl Steinmetz—the bluffest of the bluff—innocent even of his own innocence.
From The Sowers by Henry Seton Merriman
In his bluffest and heartiest way Blake refused to hear of such a thing.
From Love Eternal by Henry Rider Haggard
Liccardo also asked for nearly $1 million in promised funds from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for a handrail project on the pier and an additional $9 million to protect coastal bluffs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
It was the culmination of a series of feints and bluffs in the preceding hours and days as the former reality TV star kept the world guessing.
From Barron's ● Feb. 28, 2026
But she made a beeline back to the coast, settling in the craggy bluffs outside desirable Topanga.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
Downtown, where bluffs rise above the serpentine Mississippi River, George Campbell was walking his goldendoodle, Zac, when he spotted a group of National Guard soldiers in fatigues, handguns holstered at their hips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2025
The bay is lined with bluffs high enough to cast long shadows.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Later, when sent to a chemical plant, he volunteered to work as a welder and bluffed his way through a quiz designed to test his qualifications.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
He bluffed, saying he had no debit card.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
They bought in for $100 and bluffed when bored.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 26, 2023
Graham Paddison, of David Duggleby Auctioneers in Scarborough who are selling the lot, said that Mr Hill "bluffed" his way into the room where the Beatles were talking to the press.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2022
And worse, a husder could never afford to have it demonstrated that he could be bluffed, that he could be frightened by a threat, that he lacked nerve.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Kids know if you’re bluffing, so do not make a threat that you’re not willing to carry though.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026
Those who remain alive might well be bluffing, projecting resolve even if they would privately prefer to sue for peace.
From Slate ● Mar. 26, 2026
Mehdi, a 58-year-old salesman believes the opposite, saying that "the Americans are bluffing" and that "the negotiations will be 100% successful".
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
"We aren't bluffing or joking - we don't have a purpose media wise we are only for money and money only and one of our main managers wanted me to reach out to you."
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2025
“I said put yer hands up,” Davy says, his horse whinnying and bluffing and clopping from foot to foot.
From "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness
Vocabulary lists containing bluff
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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Tricky Terms for April Fool's Day
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"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
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