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
He’s best known for playing deadpan game show hosts and offering tongue-in-cheek Weekend Update monologues about topics like getting a Real ID and a potential TikTok ban.
—
Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 28 Aug. 2025
Father Mother Sister Brother (TBA) Adam Driver delivered arguably his best performance in Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson, and offered his deadpan comedic chops to The Dead Don’t Die.
—Ben Rosenstock, Time, 27 Aug. 2025
Servillo is such a sly actor, and the director showcases his deadpan performance with such slow-build curiosity, that the film is always cueing us to read his mind, to see the glimmers of thought and soul behind the façade.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 27 Aug. 2025
Althoff’s sarcastic deadpan humor, beguiling personality and awkward line of questioning led her to interviews with Drake, Tyga, Lil Yachty, Rubi Rose, Nick Cannon and Mark Cuban.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for deadpan
Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 28 Aug. 2025
Father Mother Sister Brother (TBA) Adam Driver delivered arguably his best performance in Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson, and offered his deadpan comedic chops to The Dead Don’t Die.
—Ben Rosenstock, Time, 27 Aug. 2025
Servillo is such a sly actor, and the director showcases his deadpan performance with such slow-build curiosity, that the film is always cueing us to read his mind, to see the glimmers of thought and soul behind the façade.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 27 Aug. 2025
Althoff’s sarcastic deadpan humor, beguiling personality and awkward line of questioning led her to interviews with Drake, Tyga, Lil Yachty, Rubi Rose, Nick Cannon and Mark Cuban.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for deadpan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deadpan
Adjective
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Above her headboard, a small square painting floats on a blank wall like a postage stamp, recalling a cross above the bed.—
Keith Flanagan,
Architectural Digest,
11 Sep. 2025
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In 2022 and 2024, there were similar blank stretches, but both seasons ended with major wallops to Florida — Hurricanes Ian and Nicole in 2022, and Hurricanes Helene and Milton last year.—
Alex Harris,
Miami Herald,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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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.—
Hua Hsu,
The New Yorker,
21 Nov. 2022
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The company poured $10 billion into its Reality Labs division last year, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was criticized last week after posting a selfie that showed an expressionless version of his avatar in front of the Eiffel Tower.—
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez,
Fortune,
30 Aug. 2022
Adjective
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Acclaimed country musician Orville Peck will make his film debut in Street Fighter as the enigmatic Vega, a masked fighter with a freaky set of Freddy Krueger claws.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Sep. 2025
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One of Al Pacino’s finest performances of the 1970s — which, with the Godfather films and Serpico, is an absurd hot hand — is as the enigmatic, wild-eyed Sonny, a man who performs a desperate bank robbery with his partner (the late John Cazale, by turns heartbreakingly clueless and dopily funny).—
Christina Newland,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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There are also plenty of promotional materials dating from the building’s launch, and in one video clip, Kurokawa sells the merits of the building to an impassive audience of smoking businessmen.—
Anthony Paletta,
Curbed,
2 Sep. 2025
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She is described, variously, as quirky, impassive, naive, vulgar, blithely optimistic.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
20 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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But the drama can be very stolid, borderline dull at times.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
24 May 2025
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Michelle DeYoung was a somewhat stolid Herodias, Piotr Buszewski a fiercely ardent Narraboth.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
19 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deadpan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deadpan. Accessed 13 Sep. 2025.
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