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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The bluff and businesslike Agrippa, not prone to exaggeration, deems it “the day on which the fate of the world would be decided.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Some interpreted the move as the market calling the Federal Reserve’s bluff.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
In a social media post Saturday, the department said the overnight erosion had left the bluff edge unstable, with “drop-offs of up to 8 feet” in some areas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 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
Consider even bluff old Bunny, if you would.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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 Harold Bindloss
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
The listing describes the seven-bedroom home at 7640 Tobia Way as a “showcase of Santa Barbara-inspired architecture” that is “privately positioned along the bluffs on 8.2 acres.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
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
High rock bluffs on the far side of the canyon with thin black trees clinging to the escarpment.
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
Somehow, whether Judge wanted to stay all along and bluffed the Yankees into a bigger offer or whether the star was really considering other pitches, Cashman was unfazed by Wednesday morning.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 7, 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
“I think he was bluffing me, and he was trying to get me to agree.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 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
Armed only with a lamp, he managed to scare off the men by bluffing that he had a gun, causing them to flee the scene empty-handed.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2026
Beneath all the bluffing lies a determination of credibility.
From Slate ● Nov. 20, 2025
Benji couldn’t tell if she was bluffing, but he wasn’t willing to take a chance.
From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty
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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