straight-ahead
adjective
: relating to or being music performed in an unembellished manner typical of a given idiom or performer
broadly
: straightforward
Examples of straight-ahead in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
When & where: 1 p.m. Aug. 9 at Montgomery Theater Stage
The skinny: At the center of the straight-ahead jazz scene since the early 1980s, drummer Carl Allen has worked with a vast constellation of jazz greats, a status he’s attained himself as a bandleader and educator.
—
Andrew Gilbert, Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2025
For entrees, the Spice steak is a straight-ahead option, steak frites (+$10), four or five medallions of tender hangar steak with a peppery-bold au poivre sauce and crisp fries.
—Constance Ogle, Miami Herald, 1 Aug. 2025
Hochman laughs when describing the 1940s hero who seems to share his straight-ahead approach to the job.
—Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2025
This is probably the most straight-ahead mystery on the list, yet Harris’s work always has a tinge of something else for me, a hint at something slightly more profound at play.
—Dwyer Murphy
june 24, Literary Hub, 24 June 2025
Some claim the expression refers to the smartest based on straight-ahead smarts.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 3 Apr. 2025
According to the National Eye Institute, AMD occurs when aging causes damage to the macula, which controls sharp, straight-ahead vision, making one's central vision blurry.
—Ingrid Vasquez, People.com, 1 Apr. 2025
The album opens with Mockingbird, a straight-ahead blues rocker that might lull you into thinking this is another Blues-slinging record.
—Tom Teicholz, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025
Arturo Sandoval Sandoval, renowned for blending Afro-Cuban jazz, bebop and straight-ahead jazz, performed in 1990 at the Honors tribute to his mentor Dizzy Gillespie.
—Cathy Applefeld Olson, Billboard, 9 Dec. 2024
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Andrew Gilbert, Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2025
For entrees, the Spice steak is a straight-ahead option, steak frites (+$10), four or five medallions of tender hangar steak with a peppery-bold au poivre sauce and crisp fries.
—Constance Ogle, Miami Herald, 1 Aug. 2025
Hochman laughs when describing the 1940s hero who seems to share his straight-ahead approach to the job.
—Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2025
This is probably the most straight-ahead mystery on the list, yet Harris’s work always has a tinge of something else for me, a hint at something slightly more profound at play.
—Dwyer Murphy
june 24, Literary Hub, 24 June 2025
Some claim the expression refers to the smartest based on straight-ahead smarts.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 3 Apr. 2025
According to the National Eye Institute, AMD occurs when aging causes damage to the macula, which controls sharp, straight-ahead vision, making one's central vision blurry.
—Ingrid Vasquez, People.com, 1 Apr. 2025
The album opens with Mockingbird, a straight-ahead blues rocker that might lull you into thinking this is another Blues-slinging record.
—Tom Teicholz, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025
Arturo Sandoval Sandoval, renowned for blending Afro-Cuban jazz, bebop and straight-ahead jazz, performed in 1990 at the Honors tribute to his mentor Dizzy Gillespie.
—Cathy Applefeld Olson, Billboard, 9 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Straight-ahead.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/straight-ahead. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
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