deadpan

[ ded-pan ]

adjective

1. marked by or accomplished with a careful pretense of seriousness or calm detachment; impassive or expressionless:

   deadpan humor.

2. displaying no emotional or personal involvement:

   a deadpan style.

adverb

1. in a deadpan manner:

   He spoke his lines utterly deadpan.

verb (used with or without object)

, dead·panned, dead·pan·ning.

1. to behave or perform in a deadpan manner.

noun

1. a face showing no expression.
2. a style of comedy that relies on the comedian's maintaining such a face.

deadpan

/ ˈdɛdˌpæn /

adjective

1. with a deliberately emotionless face or manner

   deadpan humour

Other Words From

• dead panner noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of deadpan¹

An Americanism dating back to 1925–30; dead + pan ¹ (in the slang sense “face”)

Example Sentences

Her vocal-fry-inflected monotone that Kardashian fans know and love, perfect for delivering deadpan insults like, “Kim, there’s people that are dying,” is simply not meant to land corny Netflix jokes.

From The Daily Beast

A double mastectomy and a life-threatening intestinal infection later, Notaro’s ability to turn painful situations into laughable onstage anecdotes with almost deadpan perfection has held her in great stead.

From Ozy

This is where Jim Halpert turns to the camera with a deadpan expression.

From Washington Post

If you’ve seen Andersson’s 2014 A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, you’ll be prepared for this movie’s dandelion puffs of off-kilter humor, and for its deadpan exploration of the textures of everyday living.

From Time

“I’m patient because I cannot really run fast, and that’s my only option,” he said, with a deadpan.

From FiveThirtyEight

The Garfield specials are also unique for their deadpan delivery and oftentimes bleak worldview.

From The Daily Beast

But something about the cover image—four deadpan dudes against a robin's-egg blue background—spoke to me, I guess.

From The Daily Beast

But he had his own defenses, a great off-hand resilience and a deadpan humor, and he survived.

From The Daily Beast

How could the deadpan-hilarious prince of SNL and 30 Rock turn in such a boring late-night talk show debut?

From The Daily Beast

“I could tell you missed me more than I missed you,” Tom says, deadpan.

From The Daily Beast

Halfway across the lobby, a tall swarthy man with one of those deadpan faces rose to greet him.

From Project Gutenberg

She continued to stare, deadpan and blank-eyed, with no answering flicker of a smile.

From Project Gutenberg

Suzanne looked closely at him—he was so deadpan, it was hard to tell what was on his mind.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• impassive
• stony