Synonyms

straight face

American

noun

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

straight face British

noun

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

straight face Idioms

see keep a straight face.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of straight face

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

straight face

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, apparently with a straight face, hailed the new arrangement as “the beginning of the next future for financial engineering.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

"It was the first time, it was all pretty much new to me," he said, adding the main issue was keeping a straight face and not laughing.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

The U.S. team has been riding a magic carpet, to the point people have been talking with a straight face about going all…the…way.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

The paper “published this piece with zero evidence. And we’re all just supposed to sit here with a straight face and take it like it is some sort of truth.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026

And in a voice oilier than the one before, he’d answer with a straight face, “From the Uglies.”

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

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