straight man en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈstɹeɪt ˌmæn/
- /ˌstɹeɪt ˈmæn/
- (Australia) audio
- /ˈstɹeɪtˌmæn/
Meanings
-
(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.
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.
2010, Caroline Graham, A Ghost in the Machine, Hachette UK, →ISBN:She was the straight man, he was the comedian, and their audience was “standing room only” when they stepped up to the microphone.
1982 April, Pam Hait, “Sandra Day O’Connor: Warm, Witty and Wise”, in The Ladies' Home Journal, volume 99, page 46:For many years Bud Abbott served brilliantly as Lou Costello's deadpan straight man.
-
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see straight, man; for example, a heterosexual man.
The committee consisted of two lesbians and a straight man.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| straight men | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
Relateds
feed · deadpan · second banana · straight face · funnyman · top banana
Synonyms
setup man · stooge · second banana
Translations (13)
fi tavallinen mies (supporting comic) · de Stichwortgeber (supporting comic) · de Stichwortgeberin (supporting comic) · it spalla (supporting comic) · pt escada (supporting comic) · hu hétköznapi embert/figurát játszó/alakító komikus (supporting comic) · tr komedyen yardakçısı (supporting comic) · pl postać stanowiąca obiekt żartów komika (supporting comic) · fr clown blanc (supporting comic) · cs nahrávač (supporting comic) · cmn 捧哏 (supporting comic) · tr şamaroğlanı (supporting comic) · ja ツッコミ (supporting comic)