bluff

being or characterized by direct, brief, and potentially rude speech or manner he's a bluff but good-hearted teacher Synonyms abrupt, blunt, brusque (also brusk), crusty, curt, downright, short, short-spoken, snippy, unceremoniousRelated Words gruff, rough, snappish; candid, direct, forthright, foursquare, frank, free-spoken, open, outspoken, plain, plainspoken, point-blank, straightforward, straight-out; artless, discourteous, disrespectful, impertinent, impolite, inconsiderate, insensitive, rude, tactless, undiplomatic; brief, closemouthed, laconic, reserved, reticent, terse, tight-lipped; earnest, honest, sincere; coarse, crass, crude, low, uncouth, vulgarNear Antonyms civil, considerate, courteous, diplomatic, gracious, polite, politic, smooth, suave, tactful; loquacious, talkative, voluble; long-winded, prolix, verbose; courtly, cultivated, gallant, genteel, polished, refinedAntonyms circuitous, mealymouthed

a steep wall of rock, earth, or ice fossils embedded in a stone bluff that date from the Jurassic period Synonyms barranca (also barranco), cliff, crag, escarpment, palisade, precipice, scar, scarpRelated Words butte, cuesta, hogback, tor; bulwark, embankment; declivity, drop-off, pitch

1 to cause to believe what is untrue I bluffed the interviewer into believing that I could really speak French and thus would be the perfect person to serve in the newspaper's Paris bureau Synonyms bamboozle, beguile, deceive, buffalo, burn, catch, con, cozen, delude, dupe, fake out, fool, gaff, gammon, gull, have, have on [chiefly British], hoax, hoodwink, hornswoggle, humbug, juggle, misguide, misinform, mislead, snooker, snow, spoof, string along, sucker, suck in, take in, trickRelated Words kid, put on, tease; bleed, cheat, chisel, defraud, diddle, euchre, flam, fleece, gyp, hustle, mulct, rook, shortchange, skin, squeeze, stick, sting, swindleNear Antonyms debunk, expose, reveal, show up, uncloak, uncover, unmask; disclose, divulge, tell, unveil; disabuse, disenchant, disillusionAntonyms undeceive

2 to present a false appearance of the basketball player bluffed a shot, then passed instead Synonyms act, affect, assume, feign, counterfeit, dissemble, fake, pass (for), pretend, profess, put on, sham, simulateRelated Words dissimulate, impersonate, let on, masquerade, play, playact, pose; forge, imitate; camouflage, conceal, disguise, mask; feint; malinger