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

Derived Forms

• ˈstraight-ˈfaced, adjective

Other Words From

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of straight face¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Idioms and Phrases

see keep a straight face .

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.

From ProPublica

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

"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.

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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?

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg