deadpan
Americanadjective
-
marked by or accomplished with a careful pretense of seriousness or calm detachment; impassive or expressionless.
deadpan humor.
-
displaying no emotional or personal involvement.
a deadpan style.
adverb
verb (used with or without object)
noun
-
a face showing no expression.
-
a style of comedy that relies on the comedian's maintaining such a face.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- dead panner noun
Etymology
Origin of deadpan
An Americanism dating back to 1925–30; dead + pan 1 (in the slang sense “face”)
Explanation
Use the word deadpan to describe someone who uses no expression when speaking, such as the deadpan way some comedians deliver even their funniest jokes — which can make them even funnier. Deadpan dates to 1928, when pan was slang for "face." So if you seem to have a "dead face" as you say something, it means your face looks very blank — no energy or animation. Deadpan is associated with sarcasm, and like sarcasm, if you use it for comic effect, there's a risk your audience won't pick up on it. Nevertheless, deadpan humor can be funny and popular — witness the success of deadpan humor in the sitcom Seinfeld.
Vocabulary lists containing deadpan
The Hate U Give
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The Egypt Game
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Every Day
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Jones also worked as a scholar of history and made passionate efforts to excavate the satirical intentions of Chaucer’s “The Knight’s Tale” from beneath centuries of deadpan scholarship.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026
Rapaport barks in the same scene, forcing teammate Ron Funches to deadpan, “You’re playing a game right now.”
From Salon • Jan. 15, 2026
And despite his often deadpan demeanour and the pressure he is under, political commentators in Belgium say De Wever seems to be enjoying holding cards on the EU stage.
From Barron's • Dec. 17, 2025
Much of the deadpan dialogue was improvised and the film became a cult classic, coining phrases such as "turn it up to eleven".
From BBC • Dec. 15, 2025
Some of the more intelligent ones were striving to keep deadpan faces.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
