"straight man" meaning in English

See straight man in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-au-straight man.ogg Forms: straight men [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|straight men}} straight man (plural straight men)
  1. (idiomatic) A member (of any gender) of a team of comic performers who plays a supporting role by helping to set up jokes and punch lines through engaging in dialog with another comedian playing a more eccentric or otherwise more interesting character; a foil who plays such a role in theatrical comedy. Tags: idiomatic Categories (topical): Comedy, Narratology, People, Stock characters Synonyms: setup man, stooge, second banana Translations (supporting comic): nahrávač [masculine] (Czech), tavallinen mies (Finnish), clown blanc [masculine] (French), Stichwortgeber [masculine] (German), Stichwortgeberin [feminine] (German), hétköznapi embert/figurát játszó/alakító komikus (Hungarian), spalla [feminine] (Italian), ツッコミ (tsukkomi) (Japanese), escada (Portuguese), komedyen yardakçısı (Turkish), şamaroğlanı (Turkish)
    Sense id: en-straight_man-en-noun-aW6IQKZi Disambiguation of Comedy: 83 17 Disambiguation of Narratology: 75 25 Disambiguation of People: 64 36 Disambiguation of Stock characters: 69 31 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Czech translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Turkish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 80 20 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 76 24 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 79 21 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 79 21 Disambiguation of Terms with Czech translations: 71 29 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 73 27 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 78 22 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 76 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 72 28 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 78 22 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 78 22 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 70 30 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 78 22 Disambiguation of Terms with Turkish translations: 73 27 Disambiguation of 'supporting comic': 87 13
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see straight, man; for example, a heterosexual man. Related terms: deadpan, feed [noun], funnyman, second banana, top banana
    Sense id: en-straight_man-en-noun-9cElvtkf

Inflected forms

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  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "straight men",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "straight men"
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      "expansion": "straight man (plural straight men)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "80 20",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "76 24",
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          "_dis": "79 21",
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          "_dis": "79 21",
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          "_dis": "71 29",
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          "_dis": "73 27",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "78 22",
          "kind": "other",
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          "_dis": "76 24",
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          "_dis": "72 28",
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          "_dis": "78 22",
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          "_dis": "78 22",
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          "_dis": "70 30",
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          "_dis": "78 22",
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          "_dis": "73 27",
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          "_dis": "83 17",
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          "name": "Comedy",
          "orig": "en:Comedy",
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            "Theater",
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            "Entertainment",
            "Culture",
            "Society",
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          "_dis": "75 25",
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          "name": "Narratology",
          "orig": "en:Narratology",
          "parents": [
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            "Literature",
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            "Writing",
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            "Human behaviour",
            "Language",
            "All topics",
            "Human",
            "Communication",
            "Fundamental"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "64 36",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "69 31",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Stock characters",
          "orig": "en:Stock characters",
          "parents": [
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            "Fiction",
            "Artistic works",
            "Art",
            "Culture",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "For many years Bud Abbott served brilliantly as Lou Costello's deadpan straight man.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Caroline Graham, A Ghost in the Machine, Hachette UK, →ISBN:",
          "text": "Recently he had successfully concluded a case featuring a poet who wore only latex, lived on liquorice allsorts and worshipped a horse she believed to be the reincarnation of Radclyffe Hall. And she was the straight man.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1982 April, Pam Hait, “Sandra Day O’Connor: Warm, Witty and Wise”, in The Ladies' Home Journal, volume 99, page 46:",
          "text": "She was the straight man, he was the comedian, and their audience was “standing room only” when they stepped up to the microphone.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A member (of any gender) of a team of comic performers who plays a supporting role by helping to set up jokes and punch lines through engaging in dialog with another comedian playing a more eccentric or otherwise more interesting character; a foil who plays such a role in theatrical comedy."
      ],
      "id": "en-straight_man-en-noun-aW6IQKZi",
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        [
          "performer",
          "performer"
        ],
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          "supporting",
          "supporting"
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        [
          "jokes",
          "jokes"
        ],
        [
          "punch line",
          "punch line"
        ],
        [
          "dialog",
          "dialog"
        ],
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          "comedian",
          "comedian"
        ],
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          "eccentric",
          "eccentric"
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          "character",
          "character"
        ],
        [
          "foil",
          "foil"
        ],
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          "theatrical",
          "theatrical"
        ],
        [
          "comedy",
          "comedy"
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        "(idiomatic) A member (of any gender) of a team of comic performers who plays a supporting role by helping to set up jokes and punch lines through engaging in dialog with another comedian playing a more eccentric or otherwise more interesting character; a foil who plays such a role in theatrical comedy."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "setup man"
        },
        {
          "word": "stooge"
        },
        {
          "word": "second banana"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "supporting comic",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "nahrávač"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "supporting comic",
          "word": "tavallinen mies"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "supporting comic",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "clown blanc"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "supporting comic",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Stichwortgeber"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "supporting comic",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Stichwortgeberin"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "supporting comic",
          "word": "hétköznapi embert/figurát játszó/alakító komikus"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "supporting comic",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "spalla"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "tsukkomi",
          "sense": "supporting comic",
          "word": "ツッコミ"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "supporting comic",
          "word": "escada"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "note": "бе́лый кло́ун m (bélyj klóun, literally “white clown”)",
          "sense": "supporting comic"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "supporting comic",
          "word": "komedyen yardakçısı"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "87 13",
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "supporting comic",
          "word": "şamaroğlanı"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "the committee consisted of two lesbians and a straight man"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see straight, man; for example, a heterosexual man."
      ],
      "id": "en-straight_man-en-noun-9cElvtkf",
      "links": [
        [
          "straight",
          "straight#English"
        ],
        [
          "man",
          "man#English"
        ],
        [
          "heterosexual",
          "heterosexual"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "8 92",
          "word": "deadpan"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "8 92",
          "tags": [
            "noun"
          ],
          "word": "feed"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "8 92",
          "word": "funnyman"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "8 92",
          "word": "second banana"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "8 92",
          "word": "top banana"
        }
      ]
    }
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      "audio": "En-au-straight man.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/83/En-au-straight_man.ogg/En-au-straight_man.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/En-au-straight_man.ogg"
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  "word": "straight man"
}
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    "Terms with Finnish translations",
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    "Terms with German translations",
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    "Terms with Japanese translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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      "word": "deadpan"
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        "noun"
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      "word": "feed"
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          "ref": "2010, Caroline Graham, A Ghost in the Machine, Hachette UK, →ISBN:",
          "text": "Recently he had successfully concluded a case featuring a poet who wore only latex, lived on liquorice allsorts and worshipped a horse she believed to be the reincarnation of Radclyffe Hall. And she was the straight man.",
          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "1982 April, Pam Hait, “Sandra Day O’Connor: Warm, Witty and Wise”, in The Ladies' Home Journal, volume 99, page 46:",
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        "(idiomatic) A member (of any gender) of a team of comic performers who plays a supporting role by helping to set up jokes and punch lines through engaging in dialog with another comedian playing a more eccentric or otherwise more interesting character; a foil who plays such a role in theatrical comedy."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
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          "word": "setup man"
        },
        {
          "word": "stooge"
        },
        {
          "word": "second banana"
        }
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      "tags": [
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        {
          "text": "the committee consisted of two lesbians and a straight man"
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        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see straight, man; for example, a heterosexual man."
      ],
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          "straight",
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/En-au-straight_man.ogg"
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "supporting comic",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "nahrávač"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "supporting comic",
      "word": "tavallinen mies"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "supporting comic",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "clown blanc"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "supporting comic",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Stichwortgeber"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "supporting comic",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Stichwortgeberin"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "supporting comic",
      "word": "hétköznapi embert/figurát játszó/alakító komikus"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "supporting comic",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "spalla"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "tsukkomi",
      "sense": "supporting comic",
      "word": "ツッコミ"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "supporting comic",
      "word": "escada"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "note": "бе́лый кло́ун m (bélyj klóun, literally “white clown”)",
      "sense": "supporting comic"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "supporting comic",
      "word": "komedyen yardakçısı"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "supporting comic",
      "word": "şamaroğlanı"
    }
  ],
  "word": "straight man"
}

Download raw JSONL data for straight man meaning in English (4.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.