poker-faced en · ADJ
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).
Meanings
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Wearing a poker face: studiously neutral in facial expression; giving nothing away.
John, in his most poker-faced manner, continued to explain the rules.
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.
1958 February 14, David Gunston, “Railways on the Screen”, in Railway Magazine, pages 87-88:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| poker faced | alternative | lexicographic | |
| most poker-faced | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| pokerfaced | alternative | lexicographic | |
| more poker-faced | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |