bluffer
Feigns a hand
A bluffer is someone who bluffs—who pretends to have knowledge, ability, or confidence they don't possess.
The word appears most often in poker contexts, where bluffing is strategic deception: He's a skilled bluffer who rarely gets called.
Outside gambling, it describes anyone faking competence: She suspected he was a bluffer who'd never actually read the report.
Faker claiming false expertise
- impostorOne feigning another's identity
- fraudsterCriminal deceiver for gain
- con artistProfessional fraud perpetrator
- swindlerPerson who deceives for money
faker · phony · pretender · deceiver · trickster · hoaxer · sham · cheat
Convey information verbally
- poker faceIntentionally expressionless look
- all-inFully committed, nothing held back
- foldBend onto itself
- callContact by phone
raise · showdown · check-raise · pot odds · hole cards · river · flop · turn
Deceptive act or costume party
- charadeAbsurd or obvious pretense
- facadeDeceptive outward appearance
- disguiseIdentity-concealing alteration
- actDeed or performance
pose · affectation · guise · feigning · fakery · front · artifice · performance
Confident, boastful manner
- blusterLoud, empty boasting
- cockinessBrash overconfidence
- blusteringSpeaking with noisy aggression
- posturingInsincere behavior for effect
false confidence · boastfulness · brashness · boldness · chutzpah · audacity · showmanship · puffery
charlatan
Faker claiming false expertise
- impostorOne feigning another's identity
- fraudsterCriminal deceiver for gain
- con artistProfessional fraud perpetrator
swindler · faker · phony · pretender · deceiver · trickster · hoaxer · sham · cheat · scammer
tell
Convey information verbally
- poker faceIntentionally expressionless look
- all-inFully committed, nothing held back
- foldBend onto itself
call · raise · showdown · check-raise · pot odds · hole cards · river · flop · turn · ante
masquerade
Deceptive act or costume party
- charadeAbsurd or obvious pretense
- facadeDeceptive outward appearance
- disguiseIdentity-concealing alteration
act · pose · affectation · guise · feigning · fakery · front · artifice · performance · playacting
swagger
Confident, boastful manner
- blusterLoud, empty boasting
- cockinessBrash overconfidence
- blusteringSpeaking with noisy aggression
posturing · false confidence · boastfulness · brashness · boldness · chutzpah · audacity · showmanship · puffery · braggadocio
- deceiversliar, liars, deceiver, fraud, fake
- fakesfake, fakes, counterfeit, counterfeits, imitation
- fraudscharlatan, faker, imposter, impostor, phony
- posersposer, poseur, wannabe, fake, faker
- liarsdeceiver, fabricator, falsifier, fraud, prevaricator
- swindlerscon artist, swindler, fraudster, scammer, grifter
bluffertruth-teller
One who speaks accurately
truthteller · straight shooter · genuine article · straight talker · open book
blufferexpert
Highly skilled practitioner
real deal · authority · master · specialist
- call someone's bluffTest if threat is real
- call the bluffExpose an empty threat
- river bluffsElevated terrain along waterways
- blind man's bluffBlindfolded player seeks others
- double bluffDeception through apparent honesty
- bluffed outWon by false confidence
bluff, bluffing, bluffs, bluffed, bluffers, outbluff, outbluffing