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
-
But Hyd unsettles this arrangement with their deadpan affect, playing the part of a mourning truth-seeker trying to live in the moment.—
H.D. Angel,
Pitchfork,
2 June 2026
-
Chambers got his start writing on and earned his first Emmy nom for The Bob Newhart Show, the one-season NBC comedy-variety show hosted by the man whose deadpan Button-Down Mind LPs had sold millions.—
Erik Pedersen,
Deadline,
2 June 2026
Adjective
-
The 47-year-old, wearing a blue suit and blue tie, was expressionless as the charges against him were described.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
19 May 2026
-
The routine calls for this chic, almost expressionless vibe — very different from a typical K-pop performance.—
Billboard Korea,
Billboard,
26 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
The California electorate has typically favored experience over youth, and favored bland and boring over razzle and dazzle.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
3 June 2026
-
Gone are the days of cardboard bread and bland baked goods.—
Michele Laufik,
Martha Stewart,
29 May 2026
Adjective
-
All three of them were shot in the head and beaten with a wooden baseball bat.—
Alex Brizee,
Idaho Statesman,
29 May 2026
-
In parts of Central and Eastern Europe, people lie on wooden structures built directly above active hives to absorb the sound and vibration, a practice called apitherapy.—
Allison Palmer,
Miami Herald,
29 May 2026
Adjective
-
The wild creatures are unfazed, standing like stoic guardians of the canyon.—
Julia Sayers Gokhale,
Midwest Living,
1 June 2026
-
For example, a person who is protective may at first appear stoic and professional, yet the behaviors are a cover for the lack of vulnerability.—
Mary Crossan,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
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
Adjective
-
During these dry winter months, game viewing peaks.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
3 June 2026
-
Once a major city on Rome’s ancient trade route, Jerash was buried and preserved by the dry climate for centuries until excavations began in 1925.—
Hanna Wickes,
Charlotte Observer,
3 June 2026
Adjective
-
But the picture also feels stolid and one note.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
27 May 2026
-
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.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harpers Magazine,
26 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Straight-faced.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/straight-faced. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
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