poker face
- 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.
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Origin of poker face
An Americanism dating back to 1880–85
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
poker face
- informal a face without expression, as that of a poker player attempting to conceal the value of his cards
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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
Idioms and Phrases with poker face
poker face
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]
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.