straight face
Poker player's mask
A straight face shows no emotion, especially when you're trying not to laugh or reveal amusement.
Someone keeps a straight face while telling a joke or hearing something absurd.
The challenge is maintaining composure: I couldn't keep a straight face when he walked in wearing that hat.
Straight-faced works as an adjective or adverb.
- expressionlessShowing no feeling
- deadpanExpressionless, especially for humor
- stone coldTotally without heat
- dry humorUnderstated, expressionless comedy
- dry witUnderstated, ironic humor
mask · impassive · poker-faced · suppressed laugh · cracking · seriousness · unreadability · hold it together · stoicism · composure · blank slate · unemotional · façade · facial expression · droll · solemn · control · delivery
- blank expressionsblank stare, deadpan, expressionless, flat affect
- body idiomsheart of gold, heart of stone, cold heart, warm heart, soft heart
- serious expressionsno joke, dead serious, I mean it, seriously, in earnest
- jokesjokes, joke, puns, one-liners, pun
- drinking gamesbeer pong, flip cup, kings cup, quarters, ring of fire
- timingtiming, stopwatch, pause, early, countdown
straight facelaughter
Vocal expression of amusement
cracking up · giggling · snickering · chuckling · belly laugh
straight facewearing one's heart on one's sleeve
Displaying emotions openly
face, straight, straightforward, straight-faced, straightaway, straighter, straightest, straights, straightness