Also 7 rarely blough. [A nautical word of uncertain origin: it has been compared with an obsolete Du. blaf (given by Kilian 1599, in blaf aensicht broad flat face, blaf van vorhoofd, rendered by L. fronto ‘having a broad forehead’). This appears to be identical in sense with the Eng. word; but, outside Kilian, nothing is known of it.]
1. Presenting a broad flattened front; esp.
a. Of a ship: Opposed to sharp or projecting, having little ‘rake’ or inclination, nearly vertical in the bows.
1627. Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram., ii. 4. If her stem [printed sterne] be vpright as it were, she is called Bluffe, or Bluffe-headed. Ibid., xi. 55. If shee haue but a small Rake, she is so bluffe that the Seas meet her … suddenly.
1674. Petty, Disc. bef. R. Soc., 29. The chief cause, why short, bluff, undermasted Vessels sail cheaper than others.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1789), G iij. The former of these is called by seamen a lean, and the latter a bluff bow.
1861. G. F. Berkeley, Sportsm. W. Prairies, ix. 149. The steamer brings her bluff bows alongside the land.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Lean, used in the same sense as clean or sharp; the reverse of full or bluff in the form of a ship.
1873. Brit. Q. Rev., Jan., 108. In favour of shorter and bluffer, but handier ships requiring greater engine power to drive them at the desired speed.
b. Of a shore or coast-line: ‘Presenting a bold and almost perpendicular front, rather rounded than cliffy in outline.’ Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk.
1658. R. Franck, North. Mem. (1821), 165. The pleasant banks of Ilay … where … the water runs most on a level, and the banks very blough.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1789), G iij. Cote en écore, a bluff or bold shore.
1772–84. Cook, Voy. (1790), V. 1823. An elevated bluff point, which we called Rock Point.
1791. Cowper, Odyss., V. 486. The rude coast a headland bluff Presented.
1849. Murchison, Siluria, vii. 129. This rock frequently forms bluff cliffs.
1872. Dana, Corals, ii. 144. Every variety of slope, from the gradually inclined bed of corals to the bluff declivity.
† c. Of a broad face or forehead of men or animals. Obs.
1664. Phil. Trans., I. 12. The head pretty bluff, and full of bumps on both sides.
1687. Dryden, Hind & P., III. 1144. A son of Anak for his height … Black-browed and bluff, like Homer’s Jupiter. [Cf. sense 2.]
† d. transf. To stand bluff: to stand firm or stiff. ? Obs.
1777. Sheridan, Sch. Scand., II. iii. 255. That he should have stood bluff to old bachelor so long, and sink into a husband at last.
2. fig. Of persons and their manner, actions, etc.:
a. in an unfavorable sense: ‘Big, surly, blustering’ (J.); toned down in later use into ‘rough, abrupt, blunt,’ and so into b.
1705. Mrs. Centlivre, Gamester, I. 141. Another [Fellow] bluff as a Midnight Constable, slapt him on the Back with an Action of Forty Pounds.
1742. Pol. Ballads (1860), II. 278. Cock your great hat, strut, bounce, and look bluff.
a. 1745. Swift, Dan Jackson’s Reply, Wks. 1755, IV. I. 259. I maul’d you, when you look’d so bluff.
1762. H. Walpole, Vertue’s Anecd. Paint. (1786), I. 136. That capital picture … of Henry VIII…. The character of his majesty’s bluff haughtiness is well represented. Ibid. (1788), Reminisc., vii. 55. A bluff Westphalian accent.
1829. I. Taylor, Enthus., ix. 241. Martial arrogance … fanatical zeal, and … bluff devotion.
1848. Lytton, Harold, vii. 156. Finally wound up with a bluff ‘Go, or let alone.’
b. Good-naturedly blunt, frank or plain-spoken; rough and hearty; usually giving the notion of personal power or energy exhibiting itself in an abrupt but good-natured way. (Perhaps the shifting of sense is due to the notion attached to the designation ‘Bluff King Hal’: cf. 1762 in a.)
1808. Scott, Marm., VI. xxxviii. That bluff King Hal the curtain drew. Ibid. (1819), Ivanhoe, xxxii. I greatly misdoubt the safety of the bluff priest.
1820. W. Irving, Sketch Bk., II. 370. A bluff but not unpleasant countenance.
1827. Lytton, Pelham, xxxvi. A bluff, hearty, radical, wine merchant.
1863. Kinglake, Crimea (1877), II. xiv. 240. The potentate dealt with England in a bluff, kingly, Tudor-like way.
1865. Sat. Rev., 5 Aug., 181/1. Typical of bluff downright honesty.
3. Comb., as bluff-bowed, bluff-headed (see sense 1 a); bluff-head, a bluff headland, the top of a bluff; also fig. as a term of contempt (cf. blockhead).
1699. Dampier, Voy., III. 137. When we came abreast of the Bluff-head … we had but 7 Fathom.
1794. J. O’Keeffe, Wild Oats, I. i. 2. How dare you sit in my presence, you bluff head?
1823. Byron, Island, II. xxi. From the bluff-head … I saw her in the doldrums.
1833. T. Hook, Parson’s Dau., III. vii. 423. As short and as bluff-bowed as a collier, or as sharp and as choppy as a wedge.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Bluff-headed, when a ship has but a small rake forward on, being built with her stem too straight up.
