poker-faced

See also: pokerfaced and poker faced

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From the attitude necessary in the game of poker, since one is ill-advised to reveal delight at being dealt a winning hand lest other players decline to bet (or contrariwise, show disappointment at a poor hand if one is inclined to bluff).

Adjective

poker-faced (comparative more poker-faced, superlative most poker-faced)

  1. Wearing a poker face: studiously neutral in facial expression; giving nothing away.
    Synonyms: deadpan, expressionless, unexpressive, impassive
    John, in his most poker-faced manner, continued to explain the rules.
    • 1958 February, David Gunston, “Railways on the Screen”, in Railway Magazine, pages 87-88:
      Harold Lloyd had had one or two minor comic brushes with railway trains, but the first man to produce real comedy from locomotives was the great poker-faced clown, Buster Keaton.
      .

See also

Further reading

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