View synonyms for bluffing

bluffing

[ bluhf-ing ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

the act of misleading someone by a display of strength, self-confidence, or the like:
While the bluffing goes on at the negotiating table, the public, the striking workers, and the employer all lose.
Poker, Bridge. the act of deceiving an opponent by a show of confidence in the strength of one’s cards:
The digital version of the game falls short, because the bluffing needs that eye-to-eye contact, the smug and knowing smiles.

deceiving or misleading someone by a display of strength or confidence:
Determining whether one faces a serious or bluffing adversary constitutes a major challenge in the bargaining process.
“Advertising budget” is a poker term for the amount of chips a bluffing player is willing to invest to deceive opponents.

First recorded in 1845–50; bluff ²( def ) + -ing ¹( def ) for the noun senses; bluff ²( def ) + -ing ²( def ) for the adjective sense

Nor would the dangers end there even if Obama were not bluffing; Putin might think he was bluffing anyway and start a war.

As menacing as those automatic rifles were, I felt the Somalis were bluffing.

Even a bluffing superpower can be forced to ante up ... or perhaps fold as casualties mount and treasury accounts go bust.

It may sound absurd at first flush, but politics and poker have a lot more than just bluffing in common.

Jonathan Chait thinks Speaker Boehner is bluffing on allowing the sequestration to take place.

They got somebody, or else they were only bluffing when they waved that scalp.

Mike grinned, remembering the time he had driven a robot brain daffy by bluffing it at poker.

He uttered a low laugh of contempt which showed plainer than words that he thought Curlie was bluffing.

Mrs. Spencer might be, probably was, bluffing but he did not propose to be the one to call it; the result was quite too uncertain.

She began to laugh at my bluffing words, and ended with a nervous sob.

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