STRAIGHT-FACED Synonyms: 86 Similar and Opposite Words

straight-faced

adjective

as in deadpan

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of straight-faced The clip began with a makeup-free Giudice sitting in the glam chair and gazing straight-faced into the camera while Reyna sized up the shot. — Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE, 21 Sep. 2026 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

The deadpan family comedy follows a 63-year-old man who drags nine relatives on a one-day tour of nine temples after a fortune teller warns that his mother will soon die.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 21 Oct. 2026
Completing a not-quite Scooby Gang are Mallory (Grace Brennan), returning to public school after three years of homeschooling, and her cousin Weldon (Colter Lee), a deadpan original turn on the nerd.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of deadpan

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

Definition of expressionless

Adjective

However, this new research suggests that this slightly bland and uniform appearance is because no white dwarf is close enough for Earthbound astronomers to see their true colors.

— Robert Lea, Space.com, 15 Oct. 2026
The high-wire act that followed—in which performers had to make these bland conceits into something funny without, ostensibly, preparing any jokes in advance—introduced a tension that made sketch shows feel sedate and uneven by comparison.

— Dan Brooks, New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of bland

Adjective

Rubin told the news outlet that if the business parts ways with the wooden puppet, store employees will receive a $15,000 bonus and the bird’s artist, Bliss Kolb of Seattle, will receive $1 million.

— Andrea Flores, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
The recovered objects include a Baroque wooden angel from the Church of Vera Cruz, a copy of Ecce Homo by Spanish Renaissance painter Luis de Morales, and a panel depicting the Seventh Station of the Cross.

— Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of wooden

Adjective

Terrence split almost immediately, and Julianne deposited her small son on the Missouri farm of her Uncle Claude, a stoic, kindly old man.

— Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 20 Oct. 2026
Aaron is maybe a little more stoic than his character is written, which then allowed Gabe [to have] this kinetic, golden retriever energy.

— Ellise Shafer, Variety, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of stoic

Adjective

It’s reflected in the visuals of the series, which are as unimaginative as the AI actor renders are dead and inexpressive even before they’re shot through with Tokugawa-era arrows.

— Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 16 Oct. 2026
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

Definition of inexpressive

Adjective

The trombonist Cutler is played by Terence Archie as stolid, unassuming and quietly in control.

— Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 13 Oct. 2026
Meanwhile, Leigh—intellectual, magnetic, and capricious—went to finishing school before marrying a stolid, stable lawyer named Herbert Leigh Holman in 1932.

— Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 21 Sep. 2026