STRAIGHT-FACED Synonyms: 86 Similar and Opposite Words

straight-faced

adjective

as in deadpan

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Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of straight-faced Mamdani emerged from this shroud of mystery triumphant, posting a photograph on X of himself, firmly straight-faced, standing alongside the grinning President. — Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 5 Mar. 2026 The bill is presented, straight-faced, as securing election integrity. — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 21 Feb. 2026 To which Liu responded, straight-faced and finally dead serious. — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 20 Feb. 2026 But the rest of the movie is straight-faced, as though its story of two reckless sociopaths vying to destroy the world in their respective modes weren’t appallingly depressing. — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 7 Oct. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for straight-faced

Adjective

And when commenters who don’t get the satire (or just don’t like it) express genuine outrage, Fox answers with deadpan indignance.

— Frank DiGiacomo, Rolling Stone, 7 July 2026
Manco isn’t necessarily the most dynamic protagonist in the world, but he’s centered and relatable in his anxiety over aging and his genuine love for Sammy, and an amusing deadpan presence with an accent the actor commits too.

— Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 25 June 2026

Definition of deadpan

Adjective

Focusing on efficiency and tools results in recycled, bland posts that are obviously inauthentic and can do as much harm as good to the organization's brand.

— Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026
But together, the whole is blander than the sum of its parts—a subtle banality humans can often implicitly sense.

— Sam Macdonald, Scientific American, 29 June 2026

Definition of bland

Adjective

In nearby Altadena, another wind phone sits in a wooden framed telephone booth with vertical glass windows at the end of a brick walkway.

— Staff Photographer, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
Mary Ellen Brown, 68, stood in the back of the chapel and greeted those who walked inside, toward their usual pews, while Emily Lyons, almost 90, maneuvered her walker through the worn wooden doors.

— Andrew Carter, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026

Definition of wooden

Adjective

That virtue is undermined here by leads with minimal chemistry, one of them inexpressive and the other archly theatrical, by design if not to rewarding effect.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 21 May 2026
Moments of physical intimacy between his protagonists are often relayed in rigid and frustratingly inexpressive language, which occasionally veers into the tiringly smutty.

— Taran Dugal, New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2026

Definition of inexpressive

Adjective

Combine that with increasingly hotter and drier weather due to climate change, and forests in the Sierra Nevada are left with a ton of stuff that’s ready to burst into flames.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2026
Rubye was ten feet ahead, bent under the weight of a dry bag, in a cloud of black flies.

— John Todd, Outdoor Life, 9 July 2026

Definition of dry

Adjective

Many Labour members hope Burnham’s people skills and charisma can connect with the public more than the stolid, managerial Starmer could ever do.

— ABC News, ABC News, 23 June 2026
Many Labor members hope Burnham’s people skills and charisma can connect with the public more than the stolid, managerial Starmer could ever do.

— Jill Lawless, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2026