go straight

Idioms  

1. Become a law-abiding person; abandon crime. For example, Once he got out on probation, he swore he would go straight. The use of straight in the sense of “honest” dates from the 1500s and probably alludes to the opposite of crooked, used in the sense of “dishonest” from the 13th century on.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

go straight

"They go straight into status asthmaticus and… unless you intubate them within a certain time, if they have a respiratory arrest, you have four minutes, otherwise they're brain dead," she explains.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

Because they arrive fully trimmed, they can go straight into a low, slow smoke or a gentle braise, where the collagen breaks down into gelatin and the meat becomes tender enough to shred.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026

When broaching this conversation, don’t go straight into money talk, says Matt Abrahams, a communication consultant and lecturer in organizational behavior at Stanford University.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 25, 2026

Rachel Shukert, the showrunner of Netflix’s “Baby-Sitters Club” reboot, described the problem to New York magazine’s Vulture: “Girls are expected to go straight from Doc McStuffins to ‘Euphoria.’”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026

I get in the door, kick off my shoes and go straight up the steps and into my room.

From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King