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.
With Ginsberg, Glass acted as the straight man.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
Some scenes introduce that character as the straight man.
From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2025
It’s now different for him to enter LGBTQ+ rooms where lesbians might read him as a straight man or gay men might not recognize him as trans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2024
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
Said they’d sense enough to know a straight man when they saw him, and they’d give you plenty time to pay in.
From Lorimer of the Northwest by Dewey, Alfred James
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.
