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

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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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in pretends
to present a false appearance of the basketball player bluffed a shot, then passed instead

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bluffs
Noun
Like a guardian of the absolute desert, Chile’s coastal mountain range sleeps a mineral slumber, the bluffs defending the driest desert in the world. — Cristina Dorador, The Dial, 14 July 2026 That property will triple the size of Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park from 75 acres to 207 acres by adding beaches and coastal bluffs along its southern edges. — Paul Rogers, Mercury News, 13 July 2026 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 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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bluffs
  1. cliffs
  2. fools
  3. pretends
  4. escarpments
  5. tricks
  6. simulates
  7. deceives
  8. assumes
Noun
  • Once twilight fades, the cliffs and headlands nearby become excellent places to watch for bright Perseid meteors.
    — Jamie Carter, Space.com, 15 July 2026
  • All around, gleaming with an incandescence that seems cut out of the cold blue sky itself, sheer cliffs rise impossibly high, a canopy of skyscrapers reflecting sunlight among themselves, creating a labyrinth that partitions the sun’s rays.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 July 2026
Definition of cliffs
Verb
  • Runway, Pika, and a dozen others can produce footage that fools the eye on first watch.
    — Sandy Carter, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026
  • What fools these non-OpenAI mortals must be.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 15 Feb. 2026
Definition of fools
Verb
  • The show only pretends to be organized around romantic couples.
    — Lillian Fishman, New Yorker, 27 June 2026
  • The sequence in which Carmy tries to talk Richie down from a panic attack feels equally dynamic and alive right to its conclusion — when Carmy pretends they’ve gotten locked in, just as Carmy once was, to mess with Richie’s head.
    — Jen Chaney, Vulture, 26 June 2026
Definition of pretends
Noun
  • Just as the sun prepared to sink beyond the escarpments, its rays struck every piece of the fractured glass resting on top of the window frames, alighting all of them at once, as if they were shot with electricity.
    — New York Times, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2026
  • This park is all escarpments, rivers, and old forests.
    — Daniel Scheffler, Forbes.com, 12 Sep. 2025
Definition of escarpments
Verb
  • Exterior walls, similarly, may be warmer than an interior wall, which tricks the thermostat and causes the AC to run longer than necessary.
    — Timothy Dale, The Spruce, 15 July 2026
  • Cthulhu, who tricks the Minions into releasing his friends from purgatory.
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 29 June 2026
Definition of tricks
Verb
  • The standard machine simulates a game by shooting balls at varying angles.
    — Shirl Leigh July 13, New Atlas, 13 July 2026
  • Swanson earned the national championship in the Postsecondary Collision Damage Appraisal Division, a competition that simulates the work of professional collision estimators and insurance appraisers, according to a press release from the college.
    — Aurora Beacon-News, Chicago Tribune, 26 June 2026
Definition of simulates
Verb
  • The complaint also claims that the image deceives customers into thinking Lipa has endorsed the product and dilutes her brand identity.
    — Mary Cunningham, CBS News, 11 May 2026
  • The fragmentary Ni 12501 tablet from the Early Dynastic III period of Mesopotamia breaks off when Fox deceives the inhabitants of the netherworld in his quest to retrieve the storm god Ishkur.
    — Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
Definition of deceives
Verb
  • Guitars take the place of shovels, as Henry now repays Carlos’ kindness by helping to save the land that Carlos assumes is ravaged.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026
  • There is a real risk of cultural bias if AI assumes the whole world, ranging from Argentina and Egypt to Japan and Zimbabwe, ought to pursue the same values as the Western world.
    — Alexandra Figueroa, The Conversation, 14 July 2026
Definition of assumes

Browse Nearby Words

bluffness
bluffs
blunder
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Cite this Entry

“Bluffs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bluffs. Accessed 19 Jul. 2026.

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