bluff

A self-assured broadcaster, critical and competitive, having his bluff called, being invited to not just talk about it, but to be about it: Walk the walk, why don’t you?

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026

“And he doesn’t bluff, either. What he does is groom us. He prepares us for things that would otherwise be unthinkable.”

From Salon ● May 26, 2026

Administration officials fielded phone calls from executives and political allies trying to decipher whether Trump’s threat was a bluff or a prelude to an escalation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026

Or it could be some combination of bluff and wishful thinking.

From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2026

That was a complete bluff, but Elliot was too twitchy to notice.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

He said he thought Mr McCormack was a bluffer because he was saying: "You have options, or else" which Mr Williams saw as "a threat".

From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2024

He was a bluffer, implying he advised people he didn’t, and a leaker, ratting out his allies in pursuit of his own agenda.

From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2016

A bluffer, a gambler… he’d rather do it the hard way.

From New York Times ● Feb. 29, 2012

He'd been a bit of a bluffer at his first musical conservatoire.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 23, 2010

I was only trying to keep up to my reputation and name as a bluffer.

From The Outdoor Chums at Cabin Point or The Golden Cup Mystery by Allen, Quincy

Preparatory work had been done by a committee headed by Arthur Balfour Baron Riverdale of Sheffield, 62, one of Britain's biggest, baldest, blondest, bluffest steel tycoons.

From Time Magazine Archive

Biggest and bluffest of the four executive vice presidents is balding, 61-year-old Marvin E. Coyle, known as "Mr. Facts & Figures."

From Time Magazine Archive

Among the latter may be classed Karl Steinmetz—the bluffest of the bluff—innocent even of his own innocence.

From The Sowers by Merriman, Henry Seton

In his bluffest and heartiest way Blake refused to hear of such a thing.

From Love Eternal by Haggard, Henry Rider

At this stroke the man began to get angry; he frowned, and in his bluffest tone, began: "Look here now, you—" "Ta, ta, ta," interrupted M. Lecoq.

From The Mystery of Orcival by Gaboriau, Émile

It was the culmination of a series of feints and bluffs in the preceding hours and days as the former reality TV star kept the world guessing.

From Barron's ● Feb. 28, 2026

At a Sunday morning memorial, club members and friends walked together along the bluffs at Lovers Point, tracing the route of Fox’s final mile in the water, the Mercury News reported.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2025

The agency posted photos online of the firefighters setting up a rope system to recover the body from the beach to the bluffs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 28, 2025

Downtown, where bluffs rise above the serpentine Mississippi River, George Campbell was walking his goldendoodle, Zac, when he spotted a group of National Guard soldiers in fatigues, handguns holstered at their hips.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2025

I pointed at the tall narrow hill that was currently hiding part of the bluffs from our sight.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

Later, when sent to a chemical plant, he volunteered to work as a welder and bluffed his way through a quiz designed to test his qualifications.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026

He bluffed, saying he had no debit card.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025

Graham Paddison, of David Duggleby Auctioneers in Scarborough who are selling the lot, said that Mr Hill "bluffed" his way into the room where the Beatles were talking to the press.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2022

Mr. Spiegel had essentially bluffed his way into the cockpit as a skinny teenager from Greenwich Village, trusting he’d figure it out as he went.

From New York Times ● Dec. 17, 2021

John couldn’t have gone the rest of his life wondering if I had bluffed him out of a pot that big.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

Kids know if you’re bluffing, so do not make a threat that you’re not willing to carry though.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026

Those who remain alive might well be bluffing, projecting resolve even if they would privately prefer to sue for peace.

From Slate ● Mar. 26, 2026

Some said war was all but inevitable, while one salesman who gave his name as Mehdi predicted the negotiations would succeed, saying: "The Americans are bluffing."

From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026

Armed only with a lamp, he managed to scare off the men by bluffing that he had a gun, causing them to flee the scene empty-handed.

From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2026

A few seats along, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were discussing magical methods of aging themselves and bluffing their way into the Triwizard Tournament.

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling