deadpan
part of speech
adjective (deadpan); adverb (deadpan); noun (deadpan — uncountable); verb (deadpan, deadpans, deadpanned, deadpanning)
meaning for a pupil
1) Deadpan describes a way of telling a joke or saying something funny with a completely serious, blank face and flat voice, as if you do not know it is funny. tree →
2) (verb) To deadpan means to say something in this serious, expressionless way. tree →
3) A deadpan face or look is one that shows no feeling at all. tree →
sense in the lessons
In lessons on humour, hyperbole and understatement it is a key style: the speaker says something silly or huge as if it is perfectly ordinary, and that makes it funnier. British humour often uses it. It tells the reader the speaker is joking even though they look serious. Phrases: deadpan humour, a deadpan face, deadpan delivery, said deadpan.
examples
- «Oh, it's only a little rain,» Dad said deadpan, as water poured through the roof. tree →
- Her deadpan jokes make the whole class laugh. tree →
- He kept a deadpan face while the teacher read out his funny poem. tree →
- «I'm thrilled,» she deadpanned, looking at the pile of homework. tree →
- The comedian's deadpan delivery made the joke twice as funny. tree →
- British comedy often uses deadpan humour. tree →
- Try telling the joke deadpan, without smiling. tree →
note
One word, no hyphen. Past form doubles the n: deadpanned, deadpanning. Deadpan is not the same as being rude or sad: the speaker is joking but hides it. It often goes with understatement: calling a huge storm «a bit breezy» in a deadpan voice.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «deadpan» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.