as in blank
not expressing any emotion
he delivered the joke in such a deadpan voice that we thought at first that he was serious
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Recent Examples of deadpan
His extended cameo as a version of himself who keeps giving unheeded advice to the guys in the band is the movie’s one jolt of deadpan energy; somebody get McCartney his own Curb Your Enthusiasm.
—
Will Leitch, Vulture, 16 Dec. 2025
The actress handles the deadpan demeanor of the piece with utmost precision.
—Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 11 Dec. 2025
Larkin gave him his deadpan look.
—Jeff Spry, Space.com, 10 Dec. 2025
The result was an unexpectedly hilarious and deadpan gathering that perfectly encapsulated the breed’s notorious reputation.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for deadpan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deadpan
Adjective
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The 166-piece set includes 36 dot, bam, and crack tiles, 12 dragons, 16 winds, 16 flowers, 10 jokers, and four blank spare tiles made from melamine.—
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The system adapts to tone and intent without forcing app switching or blank-page starts.—
Adjective
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The routine calls for this chic, almost expressionless vibe — very different from a typical K-pop performance.—
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Bale ran to the corner of the pitch, and, having been an expressionless bystander for much of the evening, shouted in ecstasy.—
Adjective
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This mind-melter from Charlie Kaufman centers on an enigmatic Buckley as the conflicted girlfriend of Jesse Plemons’s awkward Jake, who takes her to meet his incredibly strange parents (Toni Collette and David Thewlis).—
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One of Weir’s most enigmatic tracks, and easily one of his finest.—
Adjective
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Modern buildings go up in the impassive lunar desert.—
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But the most spectacular aspect of Nuestra Tierra may be its use of drone camerawork, and the way Martel uses the unsettling stillness of a drone as the eye of an impassive god, looking down at the wrongs carried out by those on the ground.—
Adjective
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Even Universal’s stolid Lew Wasserman was suddenly looking for buyers and firing existing staff.—
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Joel Edgerton plays Robert Grainier, an orphan who grows up to be a stolid working man.—
Cite this Entry
“Deadpan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deadpan. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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