Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for straight face

straight face

noun

  1. a serious or impassive facial expression that conceals one's true feelings about something, especially a desire to laugh.


straight face

noun

  1. a serious facial expression, esp one that conceals the impulse to laugh
“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


Discover More

Derived Forms

  • ˈstraight-ˈfaced, adjective
Discover More

Other Words From

  • straight-faced adjective
  • straight-fac·ed·ly [streyt, -, fey, -sid-lee, -, feyst, -lee], adverb
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of straight face1

First recorded in 1890–95
Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

see keep a straight face .
Discover More

Example Sentences

Though I sometimes miss the verisimilitude of the early films, there’s something goofily enthralling about the fact that these movies can now feature Vin Diesel taking on a literal submarine and mostly pull that idea off with a straight face.

From Vox

There are some movie titles you can’t say with a straight face, and Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse is one of them.

From Time

“That’s so obviously not going to happen it’s a wonder we could include it with a straight face,” Meyers said.

Amazing how people can still haul this one out with a straight face.

His commitment to keeping a straight face is more impressive than his dancing.

At one point Imagine Dragons and Lorde were invoked as examples of “a pretty good year for rock,” with a straight face.

When you worked with him, your job was to keep a straight face.

Even Loaded Lux could not keep a straight face, smiling as his competitor established a clear, early lead and never let up.

"If you can keep a straight face and deny everything, we will have a few minutes of fun with Dick," said Garry with a wink.

Although it nearly killed them to do it, the others maintained a straight face and listened with interest.

But if we can hardly look a crab in the eye and keep a straight face, what would we do if we met a duck-billed mole?

"To whom, is what you mean, little man," Dawson said with a straight face.

With the aid of his monocle, von Schlichten managed to keep a straight face.

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


straighten upstraight fight