as in deadpan
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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
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
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With his signature deadpan humor, Waititi is referencing the book’s beautifully meditative quality.
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Dippold is a veteran of Parks and Recreation, and Widow’s Bay features some excellent workplace comedy bits with deadpan performances from Kate O’Flynn, Dale Dickey, and Jeff Hiller.
Adjective
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The 47-year-old, wearing a blue suit and blue tie, was expressionless as the charges against him were described.
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The routine calls for this chic, almost expressionless vibe — very different from a typical K-pop performance.
Adjective
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But no characteristic of the bland Krem is as interesting as his studded face.
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But when done without texture, the trend can feel bland.
Adjective
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While the cameras were rolling, Spielberg would stand just out of frame with two wooden bats, banging them together to startle her.
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The midwife would place a long wooden tube on my belly every now and again and listen.
Adjective
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Instead, in much of popular culture, men often get messages encouraging them to be stoic and unemotional.
-
Your instinct may be to focus on logistics while avoiding your emotions… but unfortunately for you, this season is anything but stoic.
Adjective
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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.
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Moments of physical intimacy between his protagonists are often relayed in rigid and frustratingly inexpressive language, which occasionally veers into the tiringly smutty.
Adjective
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Combine gin, lime juice, syrup, Aperol and dry Curaçao in a shaker filled with ice.
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Although oil companies still needed to use up a significant portion of their inventories during the supply shock, the demand destruction kept crude stockpiles from running dry.
Adjective
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But the picture also feels stolid and one note.
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At the end of the eighteenth century, the West’s power brokers, eager to exude stolid republican virtue, abjured decoration and ornament, sparking what the British psychologist John Flügel called the Great Masculine Renunciation.
Cite this Entry
“Straight-faced.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/straight-faced. Accessed 26 Jun. 2026.
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