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
Foliage-seekers can alight in the town of Winona, Minnesota, located on an island in the Mississippi—where visitors hike, kayak, or fish amid craggy river bluffs carpeted with ever-changing treetops. — Jessica Puckett, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 Sep. 2026 Bassist Randy Meisner was a Nebraska farm guy, raised in the shadow of prominent sandstone bluffs that guided dreamy Americans westward in the 19th century. — Grayson Haver Currin, Pitchfork, 30 Aug. 2026 Table Rock Lake frames the town with panoramic Ozarks views, particularly scenic when yellow and orange pepper the bluffs. — Taryn Shorr-McKee, Midwest Living, 26 Aug. 2026 Beyond the waterfront are dramatic coastal bluffs and an 880-acre preserve with miles of hiking paths and panoramic ocean views. — Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 18 Aug. 2026 Gaasterland said in her candidate statement that her top priorities include utility undergrounding, local control of land use decisions, and removing the train tracks from the bluffs while avoiding a new route that tunnels under Del Mar homes. — Luke Harold, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Aug. 2026 The Latour influence stretched from European high society to the Artois brewing empire, before finally reaching the bluffs of Esparza. — Donna Hardie-Scott, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026 While driving through Mendocino, make sure to stop by Mendocino Headlands State Park to witness the ocean bluffs and meander the coastal trails with your pup. — Rebecca R. Norris, USA Today, 22 July 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
  • Perched along Positano’s cliffs, the hotel soothes the soul and stirs the senses.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Progress has been hampered by persistent rain and challenging terrain, as crews have to work in a narrow mountain gorge, hemmed in between unstable cliffs and a fast-flowing river.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of cliffs
Verb
  • Sebastian Galeano fools the Lake Mary defense by carrying it himself and scampers 40 yards for the touchdown.
    — Buddy Collings, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Runway, Pika, and a dozen others can produce footage that fools the eye on first watch.
    — Sandy Carter, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026
Definition of fools
Verb
  • At one point, though, Jon Hamm does the voice of the mayor but there’s a robot who pretends to be him and is essentially wearing a mayor-skin suit.
    — Marah Eakin, Vulture, 21 Aug. 2026
  • And Brand New Day pretends to tell that story, for about 20 minutes.
    — David Sims, The Atlantic, 30 July 2026
Definition of pretends
Noun
  • Their reconstruction suggests that the Grand Canyon region once sat near an ancient continental margin in a position comparable to modern great escarpments found in places such as South Africa and Brazil.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 21 Aug. 2026
  • 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
Definition of escarpments
Verb
  • Short crown layers build lift and help create volume, which tricks the eye into seeing more density overall, and face-framing pieces create visual fullness around the face.
    — Marci Robin, Allure, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Lord Ormund’s Gambit Lord Ormund has many, many tricks up his green sleeves.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of tricks
Verb
  • The upcoming 2027 model will also be the first to feature E-Shift, an optional system that simulates the gear shifts of a combustion engine.
    — Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 18 Aug. 2026
  • The offense works on the underneath passing tree while the defense simulates coverage rules and passing off cross-under routes.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 18 Aug. 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
  • As the force gradually assumes responsibility for police patrols, Haitian police will be able to redeploy to support operations in Kenscoff, the international force said.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 2 Sep. 2026
  • The problem is that the stock's valuation already assumes all of that keeps going, at a moment when the growth driver behind it (the AI-era power generation boom) is facing its first regulatory pushback.
    — Tony Zhang, CNBC, 2 Sep. 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 5 Sep. 2026.

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