1
as in tricked
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 & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in pretended
to present a false appearance of
the basketball player bluffed a shot, then passed instead
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Recent Examples of bluffed
On the second interception, Simmons said Delaware bluffed as if an all-out blitz was coming before falling back into coverage and making the pick.
—
Walter Villa, Miami Herald, 21 Sep. 2025
Walter Villa, Miami Herald, 21 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bluffed
Verb
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That's where people get tricked.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
16 Jan. 2026
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Accountancy has seen several cheating scandals in recent years, with the Big Four firms hit with multimillion-dollar fines after staff tricked internal exams, but the sector is far from alone.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
29 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Best of all, Andrew Guest and Daniel Destin Cretton’s limited series is dependent on and a showcase for its two leads in ways previous Marvel projects only pretended to be.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
27 Jan. 2026
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In late 2025, an East Los Angeles woman shared a message with the public, pleading for the return of a necklace holding her late daughter's ashes, which was stolen when a woman pretended to ask her for directions and hugged her in return.—
Dean Fioresi,
CBS News,
21 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The first generation of Iranian revolutionaries—including octogenarians like Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—have long fooled themselves about their future.—
Robin Wright,
New Yorker,
13 Jan. 2026
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Don’t be fooled by their jaw-dropping price, the bottoms deliver an expensive look thanks to their dark wash and classic cut.—
Kyra Surgent,
InStyle,
11 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Alongside fellow co-owner John Mara, Tisch assumed control of the team in 2005 after his father had purchased a majority stake in the team in 1991.—
Jackson Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
31 Jan. 2026
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The 63-year-old New Mexico native with deep Dallas ties officially assumed leadership of North Texas’ largest business group earlier this month.—
Trevor Bach,
Dallas Morning News,
31 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Challengers should give Marylanders the option to choose a new direction and remove the need to confront the painful reality that they were deceived.—
Torrey Snow,
Baltimore Sun,
14 Jan. 2026
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Trump told people that Rupert deceived him.—
Gabriel Sherman,
Vanity Fair,
14 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Each component is first simulated, then fabricated, and finally tested.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
20 Jan. 2026
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The Oscar-winning actress later simulated shooting a ping-pong ball out of herself.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bluffed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bluffed. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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