frequently_asked_questions_files/Oxford Thesaurus.pdf

--n. 3 bombast, bravado, boasting, bragging, bluster, show,
puffery; deception, blind; Literary rodomontade, gasconade;
Colloq hot air: Roger's ranting is all bluff - he's really very
timid.
bluffý adj. 1 blustering, gruff, rough, abrupt, blunt, curt, short,
crude: Fred's bluff manner puts many people off. 2 frank,
open, hearty, straightforward, plain, plain-spoken, outspoken,
affable, approachable, good-natured, friendly: That comment is
typical of his bluff honesty.
--n. 3 cliff, escarpment, precipice, scarp, headland,
promontory, palisades: As you sail down the lower Hudson river,
the tall bluffs form a natural wall along the western bank.
blunder v. 1 stumble, flounder: I had somehow blundered into a meeting
of the local crime syndicate. She blundered upon the truth when
she saw them together.
--n. 2 mistake, error, gaffe, faux pas, slip, slip-up, howler,
Colloq boo-boo, screw-up, fluff, boner, US goof, goof-up: I
made a stupid blunder in telling him about the plans.
blunt adj. 1 dull, worn: This knife is too blunt to cut bread. 2
abrupt, curt, rough-spoken, plain-spoken, short, direct, candid,
frank, unceremonious, undiplomatic, inconsiderate, thoughtless,
brusque, outspoken, bluff, brash, indelicate, rude, uncivil,
ungracious, discourteous, impolite; straightforward, straight,
uncomplicated, uncompromising: Ralph may be blunt, but at least
you know exactly where you stand with him.
--v. 3 dull, take the edge off: You've blunted the scissors
cutting that cardboard. 4 soften, mitigate, mollify, soothe;
efface, dim, obscure, blur, weaken: Mother's love is an
absorbing delight, blunting all other sensibilities.
blur n. 1 indistinctness, dimness, haziness, cloudiness, fogginess:
We were unable to pick out the star from the blur of the Galaxy.
2 fog, haze, Brit fuzz: Without my spectacles, everything is a
blur.
--v. 3 dim, befog, obscure, bedim; efface: My vision was