bluff

\blœf\

/\blœf\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“bluff” has 6 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #18,414. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#18,414
frequency rank, French
4,251
“B” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
9
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Propos ou acte consistant à faire croire qu’on a un jeu différent de celui qu’on a en vérité.

Corpus desk

Index FR-bluff · bluff · French

bluff · rank #18,414 · 6 variants · 9 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #18,414
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,251
  • PHOTO-FINISH blessant

Nearest frequency peer: blessant (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « bluff »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « bluff » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

bluff vs Blum
40% similar
bluff vs blunt
60% similar
bluff vs bouffe
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for bluff
PropertyValue
Headwordbluff
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\blœf\
Letters5
Frequency rank#18,414
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « bluff »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.bluffse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « blessant » (#18,413), « bosch » (#18,415), « bitume » (#18,412). Parmi 4,251 lemmes en « B », « bluff » est au #18,414. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around bluff (IPA \blœf\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #18,414 among 4,251 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for bluff, with forms such as "bbluff", "blfuf", and "blluff". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 9 confusable-pair relationships, "Blum", "blunt", "bouffe", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is bluff, spelled B-L-U-F-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    Propos ou acte consistant à faire croire qu’on a un jeu différent de celui qu’on a en vérité.
  2. 2
    Propos ou actes accompagnés d’une grande confiance en soi réelle ou simulée afin d’intimider, voire de faire renoncer un adversaire en lui faisant croire qu’il est dans une position d’infériorité.
  3. 3
    Tromperie dans le but de profiter de la naïveté, de la crédulité ou de l’ignorance d’autrui.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how bluff appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. C’est du bluff, tu n’as absolument pas ce carré d’as dans ta main.
  2. Le braqueur a raté son coup de bluff : l’arme factice avec laquelle il menaçait le guichetier n’a pas trompé ce dernier, qui ne s’est pas laissé démonter et a appelé la police.

Synonyms

esbroufechiquéfaux-semblantleurremanipulationmiroir aux alouettespoudre aux yeux

This word in other languages

bluff(English)farol(Español)Mache(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbluff
  • blfuf
  • blluff
  • bluf
  • bulff
  • lbuff

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bluff - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

bbluff1blfuf2blluff1bluf1bulff2lbuff2
Edit distance from "bluff"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bluff"?
"bluff" is spelled B-L-U-F-F. The IPA pronunciation is \blœf\.
What does "bluff" mean?
As a noun, "bluff" means: Propos ou acte consistant à faire croire qu’on a un jeu différent de celui qu’on a en vérité.
What words are commonly confused with "bluff"?
"bluff" is commonly confused with "Blum", "blunt", "bouffe". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bluff"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bluff" is \blœf\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bluff" come from?
"bluff" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bluff", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

bosch#18,415brefs#18,417beige#18,410aubin#18,400

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

Chad6 variantsvases6 variantsfunk6 variantsgran6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list