straight man
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of straight man
First recorded in 1925–30
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.
“I was teaching a lot of people to surf, mostly women who didn’t want a straight man to teach them how to surf because it feels vulnerable enough,” says Walsh.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
“Yeah, but that doesn’t make sense in this case,” Meyers said, playing the straight man.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2025
I put the look on and I was like, "Yes, it's very nice for a straight man, this is the look we should go for."
From Salon ● Mar. 13, 2025
But he has grown into his role at “Saturday Night Live,” proving to be an especially strong straight man adept at the comedy of embarrassment.
From New York Times ● Apr. 28, 2024
So Peewitbrae built two parallel dykes two feet apart and two feet high, between which he could walk home like a straight man.
From Sentimental Tommy The Story of His Boyhood by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
