poker face

American  

noun

• poker faces
  plural

1. an expressionless face.

   He can tell a funny story with a poker face.

2. 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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poker face British  

noun

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

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poker face Idioms  

1. 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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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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

poker face

“From what I heard, he had a poker face during the demo,” said Dorman, now the co-founder and CEO of AI-device startup Era.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026

We’d expect to hear something similar from Redick — whose poker face isn’t as good as Barbarez’s, whose small sigh and slight smile betrayed his only emotions during his postgame news conference Thursday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026

Cahillane, a 6-foot-tall marathoner who sports a shock of white hair and a practiced poker face, was a seasoned food executive, fresh off the successful breakup of another food company: Kellogg.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026

"What a rollercoaster. I was awful at lying, I had no poker face and here I am a winner," Carr said.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025

“You sit before us with no expression, keeping a poker face through—” “Objection!” cut in Nels Gudmundsson, but Judge Lew Fielding was already sitting upright and looking sternly at Alvin.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson