straight

verb

straighted; straighting; straights

transitive verb

chiefly Scotland

: straighten

Did you know?

strait or straight?

Straight and strait are homophones (“one of two or more words pronounced alike but different in meaning or derivation or spelling”), and many people are in the habit of confusing such creatures, particularly when used in fixed phrases. If you express no emotion you have a straight face; an upright person is a straight shooter; a straight flush is “a poker hand containing five cards of the same suit in sequence.” However, if you find yourself in a difficult situation you are in dire straits. Straitjacket and straitlaced are the more commonly used forms for the restrictive garment and the “strict in manners” adjective, although straightjacket and straightlaced are also occasionally found.

Word History

First Known Use

1530, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing straight

• deal/play straight
• get one's priorities straight
• get one's/the facts straight
• get (something) straight
• get this straight
• give it to someone straight
• go straight
• have/get one's head (screwed) on right/straight
• keep a straight face
• on the straight and narrow
• ramrod straight
• set one straight
• set/put someone straight
• set/put (something) straight
• set/put them straight
• set/put the record straight
• set (someone) right/straight
• straight-ahead
• straight and narrow
• straight angle
• straight-arm
• straight arrow
• straight as a ramrod
• straight chain
• straight face
• straight flush
• straight from the heart
• straight from the top
• straight-line
• straight-line wind
• straight man
• straight off
• straight-out
• straight poker
• straight razor
• straight shooter
• straight talk
• the inside/straight/real skinny
• the straight and narrow
• the straight dope

Rhymes for straight

• ate
• bait
• bate
• cate
• crate
• date
• eight
• fait
• fate
• fete
• frate
• freight

Kids Definition

straight

1 of 2 adjective

ˈstrāt 

1

a

: free from curves, bends, angles, or unevenness

straight hair

straight timber

b

: formed by a point moving continuously in the same direction

a straight line

2

a

: holding to a proper course or method

a straight thinker

b

: frank, candid

a straight answer

3

: vertical sense 2, upright

the picture isn't quite straight

4

a

: exhibiting truth, fairness, and honesty : just

straight dealings

b

: correctly ordered or arranged

set the kitchen straight

also : correct

get the facts straight

c

: consecutive

five straight hours

d

: having nothing added

straight liquor

e

: making no exceptions in one's voting for a political party

voted a straight ticket

f

: not varying from a pattern

writes straight humor

g

: conventional

h

: not using or under the influence of drugs

i

: heterosexual entry 1

5

: being the only form of payment

on straight commission

straightness noun

straight

2 of 2 adverb

: in a straight manner, course, or line

came straight home from school