Meanings
nounblind man's buff (uncountable)
alternative blind man's bluff
- UKuncountablegamesA game where one person is blindfolded and tries to catch the other players.
That was a further clue; and here, indeed, young Mr. Dowse was getting "warm," as children say at blind-man's-buff, although, as a matter-of-fact, she had now been talking of George Miller at all.
1876, William Black, “An Encounter”, in Madcap Violet. […], volume III, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 74Synonyms: hoodman-blind, hoodwink
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA game where one person is blindfolded and tries to catch the other players.
Similar
Origin
- Old Frenchbuffe“blow”
- Englishblind man's buff
From blind man's + an obsolete sense of buff, coming from Old French buffe (“blow”). First known usage from 1854.
More words from Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans blindemol
- blindemolgame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Ancient Greek χαλκῆ μυῖα, μυΐνδα
- χαλκῆ μυῖα (khalkê muîa)game where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
- μυΐνδα (muḯnda)game where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Basque itsumando
- itsumandogame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Bulgarian сляпа баба
- сляпа баба (sljapa baba)game where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Catalan gallina cega
- gallina cegagame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Chinese Mandarin 躲猫猫, 捉迷藏
- 躲猫猫 (duǒ māo māo)game where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
- 捉迷藏 (zhuō mí cáng)game where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Czech slepá bába, hra na slepou bábu
- slepá bábagame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
- hra na slepou bábugame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Danish blindebuk
- blindebukgame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Dutch blindemannetje
- blindemannetjegame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Esperanto blindludo
- blindludogame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Estonian pimesikk
- pimesikkgame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Finnish sokkoleikki, sokko
- sokkoleikkigame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
- sokkogame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
- sokkosilla ologame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
French colin-maillard
- colin-maillardgame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
German Blindekuh, Blindekuhspiel
- Blindekuhgame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
- Blindekuhspielgame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
- Blinde Kuhgame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Greek τυφλόμυγα, ψηλαφίνδα
- τυφλόμυγα (tyflómyga)game where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
- ψηλαφίνδα (psilafínda)game where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Hungarian szembekötősdi
- szembekötősdigame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Icelandic skollaleikur
- skollaleikurgame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Irish cluiche púicín
- cluiche púicíngame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Italian mosca cieca, moscacieca
- mosca ciecagame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
- moscaciecagame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Japanese 目隠し鬼
- 目隠し鬼 (mekakushi oni)game where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Korean 까막잡기
- 까막잡기 (kkamakjapgi)game where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Latin myinda
- myindagame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Norwegian blindebukk
- blindebukkgame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Polish ciuciubabka, ślepa babka
- ciuciubabkagame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
- ślepa babkagame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Portuguese cabra-cega
- cabra-cegagame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Romanian baba-oarba, de-a baba-oarba
- baba-oarbagame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
- de-a baba-oarbagame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Russian жму́рки
- жму́рки (žmúrki)game where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Spanish gallina ciega
- gallina ciegagame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Swedish blindbock
- blindbockgame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Tagalog piring-piringan
- piring-piringangame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Tamil கண்கட்டிப் பிடித்தல்
- கண்கட்டிப் பிடித்தல் (kaṇkaṭṭip piṭittal)game where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Turkish körebe
- körebegame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Vietnamese bịt mắt bắt dê
- bịt mắt bắt dêgame where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Yiddish שלעפּע־באָבע, בלינדע־קו
- שלעפּע־באָבע (shlepe-bobe)game where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
- בלינדע־קו (blinde-ku)game where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
- בלענדעניש (blendenish)game where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
- קוציבאַבע (kutsibabe)game where someone is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
Cite this entry
APA
blind man's buff. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blind%20man's%20buff
MLA
“blind man's buff.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blind%20man's%20buff. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “blind man's buff,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blind%20man's%20buff.
Source: blind man's buff on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.