Synonyms of bluffs

bluffs 1 of 2

noun

plural of bluff

as in cliffs

a steep wall of rock, earth, or ice

fossils embedded in a stone bluff that date from the Jurassic period

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cliffs
• escarpments
• palisades
• crags
• scars
• precipices
• scarps
• embankments
• buttes
• barrancas
• tors
• hogbacks
• cuestas
• declivities
• pitches
• bulwarks
• drop-offs

bluffs

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of bluff

1

as in fools

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

• fools
• tricks
• deceives
• gulls
• kids
• snows
• suckers
• teases
• dupes
• hoodwinks
• misleads
• hoaxes
• humbugs
• buffaloes
• deludes
• juggles
• misguides
• bamboozles
• gaffs
• cons
• strings along
• cozens
• misinforms
• has on
• sucks in
• cheats
• spoofs
• snookers
• gammons
• beguiles
• stings
• fakes out
• burns
• hornswoggles
• catches
• does a number on
• takes in
• has
• leads one down the garden path
• pulls one's leg
• pulls the wool over one's eyes
• swindles
• sticks
• rooks
• hustles
• fleeces
• defrauds
• mulcts
• flimflams
• puts on
• shortchanges
• chisels
• bleeds
• skins
• euchres
• diddles
• squeezes

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• exposes
• reveals
• unmasks
• uncovers
• shows up
• undeceives
• debunks
• tells
• discloses
• divulges
• uncloaks
• unveils
• disabuses
• disillusions
• disenchants

2

as in pretends

to present a false appearance of

the basketball player bluffed a shot, then passed instead

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pretends
• simulates
• assumes
• passes (for)
• acts
• affects
• feigns
• shams
• fakes
• dissembles
• poses
• counterfeits
• professes
• plays
• makes believe
• puts on
• conceals
• forges
• masquerades
• imitates
• masks
• camouflages
• disguises
• impersonates
• lets on
• dissimulates
• feints
• playacts
• malingers

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of bluffs

Noun

Start at the Great River Road Visitor & Learning Center and drive south along Wisconsin's 250-mile stretch of the National Scenic Byway, which hugs the Mississippi's curves and bluffs. — Katy Spratte Joyce, Travel + Leisure, 3 July 2026

In Peninsula State Park, kayak beneath limestone bluffs or climb Eagle Tower for panoramic views of the surrounding landscape. — Lauren Dana Ellman, Midwest Living, 30 June 2026

Teams should be much more aggressive in calling bluffs from agents in situations like this. — Sam Vecenie, New York Times, 26 June 2026

Today, visitors can hike miles of trails and take a scenic drive through the bluffs. — Usa Today Network, USA Today, 10 June 2026

The latter peaks in verdant bluffs before descending more than 600 feet to narrow county roads built around the turn of the 20th century. — Katie Lauer, Mercury News, 8 June 2026

Kahanamoku first surfed Corona del Mar in 1914, before the surf break was destroyed by jetties in the ’30s, and became friends with the Vultee family, which had a home on the bluffs. — Laylan Connelly, Oc Register, 3 June 2026

The Fort Steele railroad bridge, for all its size, lay low ahead of them, a flush span carrying the tracks between those bluffs on either side of the river, its superstructure entirely below deck. — Eric Moskowitz, The Atlantic, 31 May 2026

In late April, the board approved plans to install natural-looking wooden posts connected by metal chains between the sidewalk and the bluffs to encourage pedestrians to stay off the cliffs and use beach access stairs. — Ashley MacKin Solomon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 May 2026

Verb

Though lovelorn and broke, Annie bluffs her way through the expensive and bizarre rituals. — John Wenzel, Denver Post, 30 Apr. 2026

Mulugheta, who employed a similar strategy with client Jalen Ramsey that successfully forced a trade during the 2019 regular season, does not come off as a man who cavalierly bluffs. — Michael Silver, New York Times, 29 Aug. 2025