poker face

American

noun

an expressionless face.

He can tell a funny story with a poker face.
a person who has or deliberately assumes a poker face.

It is impossible to tell what that poker face is really thinking.

poker face British

noun

informal a face without expression, as that of a poker player attempting to conceal the value of his cards

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

poker face Idioms

A visage lacking any expression that can be interpreted, as in Whenever Betty attended one of her children's performances, she managed to keep a poker face. This term alludes to the facial expression of a poker player who is expert at concealing his feelings about his hand. [c. 1880]

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

poker-faced

adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

poker faces

plural

Etymology

Origin of poker face

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023