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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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
At the toe of the bluff, the geotubes stretched out like a beached Leviathan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
Or it could be some combination of bluff and wishful thinking.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2026
And suddenly, I’m angry, ready to call the Germans’ bluff.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
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
I think these men were bluffer and blunter than you are.
From Blake's Burden by Bindloss, Harold
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
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
In his bluffest and heartiest way Blake refused to hear of such a thing.
From Love Eternal by Haggard, Henry Rider
Among the latter may be classed Karl Steinmetz—the bluffest of the bluff—innocent even of his own innocence.
From The Sowers by Merriman, Henry Seton
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 Gaboriau, Émile
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
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
Across the 100 or so miles west of Madison, bluffs still soar, valleys still plunge and the air still holds more birdsong than bustle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2025
The bluffs, canyons and mountainous terrain that comprise the interior of the base has been fertile training ground for those sent to conflicts in the Middle East and beyond.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2025
If we can get across the creek we could go up on the bluffs there and watch the road.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
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
With Green stepping back to flay an expected short ball, he was bluffed by a Carse yorker that splattered the stumps.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025
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
Burkhart, knowing that he had been bluffed once, said that he didn’t believe them.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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
Alice did it automatically—and because I was bluffing, she got away with it.
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
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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