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deadpan

 - 4 dictionary results

dead⋅pan

[ded-pan] adjective, adverb, verb, -panned, -pan⋅ning, noun
–adjective
1. marked by or accomplished with a careful pretense of seriousness or calm detachment; impassive or expressionless: deadpan humor.
2. displaying no emotional or personal involvement: a deadpan style.
–adverb
3. in a deadpan manner: He spoke his lines utterly deadpan.
–verb (used without object), verb (used with object)
4. to behave or perform in a deadpan manner.
–noun Also, dead pan.
5. a face showing no expression.
6. a style of comedy that relies on the comedian's maintaining such a face.

Origin:
1925–30, Americanism; dead + pan 1


dead panner, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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dead·pan   (děd'pān')   
n.  
  1. A blank, expressionless face.

  2. A person, especially a performer, who has or assumes a blank expression.

adj.  Impassively matter-of-fact, as in style, behavior, or expression: deadpan delivery of the joke.
adv.  With a blank, expressionless face.
v.   dead·panned, dead·pan·ning, dead·pans

v.   tr.
To express in an impassive, matter-of-fact way.
v.   intr.
To express oneself in an impassive, matter-of-fact way.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
deadpan

  1. n.
    an expressionless face. (See also pan = face.) : This guy has a super deadpan.
  2. n.
    a person with an expressionless face. : When you come on stage, look like a deadpan.
  3. mod.
    dull and lifeless. (Usually said of a face, expression, etc.) : He has such a deadpan approach to everything.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

deadpan 
1928, from dead + pan in slang sense of "face."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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