as in solemn
not joking or playful in mood or manner
a no-nonsense gymnastics coach
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of no-nonsense
The Rockets have established an identity under Udoka as a no-nonsense, physical group that isn’t afraid to get its hands dirty, even if enforcing that collective leads to an altercation.
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Kelly Iko, The Athletic, 29 Dec. 2024
The trip has been organized by Dolomite Mountains, an innovative and impressive company founded by Argentine Agustina Lagos Marmol and run mainly by a group of warm, no-nonsense women.
—Toby Skinner, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 Dec. 2024
Having taken a year off, due partially to her grandmother’s cancer diagnosis last summer, the undergrad has been working for Costco — a decision that hints at Mellen’s no-nonsense pragmatism.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, WWD, 23 Dec. 2024
Early on, the two families got together for a youth football game, and Perri Owens admired how protective foster mom Beth Dickerson was — and how the foster mom had a no-nonsense, direct approach with the boys.
—Brad Schmitt, The Tennessean, 23 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for no-nonsense 
Kelly Iko, The Athletic, 29 Dec. 2024
The trip has been organized by Dolomite Mountains, an innovative and impressive company founded by Argentine Agustina Lagos Marmol and run mainly by a group of warm, no-nonsense women.
—Toby Skinner, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 Dec. 2024
Having taken a year off, due partially to her grandmother’s cancer diagnosis last summer, the undergrad has been working for Costco — a decision that hints at Mellen’s no-nonsense pragmatism.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, WWD, 23 Dec. 2024
Early on, the two families got together for a youth football game, and Perri Owens admired how protective foster mom Beth Dickerson was — and how the foster mom had a no-nonsense, direct approach with the boys.
—Brad Schmitt, The Tennessean, 23 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for no-nonsense
Recent Examples of Synonyms for no-nonsense
Adjective
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In the room: The feeling was solemn and surreal, with many attendees talking about events earlier in the day for Twelfth Night to kick off the Mardi Gras season.Carlie Kollath Wells, Axios, 6 Jan. 2025
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The serious can exist alongside the inane, and the two enhance each other; in this universe, everyone deserves the right to a good bit of fun, and mass entertainment must serve the solemn duty of providing it.Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 20 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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And with a game against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, that streak has a serious chance to continue.Max Bultman, The Athletic, 13 Jan. 2025
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So by ’22, the Panthers were ready to give Darnold some serious competition in training camp.Charlotte Observer, Orlando Sentinel, 12 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming border czar Tom Homan has issued a stern warning to migrants illegally entering the U.S. in the final days of the Biden administration.Jackson Walker, Baltimore Sun, 6 Jan. 2025
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That’s the pinnacle stewardship stern directors, CFOs and CTOs embrace.Noah Barsky, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Evidence for the antiquity of the country came in the early 1820s, when America’s first professional geologists found trilobites spilling out of the banks of the new Erie Canal.Caroline Winterer / Made by History, TIME, 14 Jan. 2025
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When co-owner Arran Yentob’s team got in touch with him and offered him the chance to get involved in professional padel, Murray couldn’t resist.Vitas Carosella, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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But keeping track of the NBA’s ever-evolving broadcast rotation can turn even an earnest fan into Charlie Kelly in the mailroom.Steven Louis Goldstein, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025
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What sets Fay apart, too, is the harmonious amalgamation of characteristically Italian design with the sensibility of New England—and its earnest commitment not to appropriating or copying a certain aesthetic, but to embracing it authentically and blending it perfectly with Fay’s own design values.Caroline Reilly, Robb Report, 3 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near no-nonsense
Cite this Entry
“No-nonsense.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/no-nonsense. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.
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