straight
Part of speech: adj
adv
noun
verb
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: ball-games
card-games
communications
cricket
electrical-engineering
engineering
fashion
games
government
hobbies
lifestyle
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
poker
politics
religion
sciences
sports
telecommunications
telegraphy
tennis
Etymology: From Middle English streight, streght, streiȝt, the past participle of strecchen (“to stretch”), from Old English streċċan (past participle ġestreaht, ġestreht), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan (“to stretch”). Cognate with Scots straicht (“straight”), Dutch gestrekt (“stretched”), German gestreckt (“stretched”), Danish strakt (“stretched”), Faroese and Norn strekti (“stretched”), Icelandic strekkti (“stretched”), Norwegian strekte (“stretched”), Swedish sträckte (“stretched”). Doublet of straught. Equivalent to stretch + -ed.
In some senses, conflated with strait (“narrow, constricted”), which is from Latin strictus via Old French estreit.
Base: stretch
Affixes: -ed
Inflected forms:
form: straighter
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: straightest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: streight
pos: adj
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: more straight
pos: adv
tags: comparative
form: most straight
pos: adv
tags: superlative
form: streight
pos: adv
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: straights
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: streight
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: straights
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: straighting
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: straighted
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: straighted
pos: verb
tags: past
form: streight
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
Senses:
gloss: Not crooked, curly, or bent; having a constant direction throughout its length.
pos: adj
examples: I do not like crooked, twisted, blasted trees. I admire them much more if they are tall, straight and flourishing.
“Heavens!” exclaimed Nina, “the blue-stocking and the fogy!—and yours are pale blue, Eileen!—you’re about as self-conscious as Drina—slumping there with your hair tumbling à la Mérode! Oh, it's very picturesque, of course, but a straight spine and good grooming is better.[…]”
The other people, I presume, are supposed to be standing to attention, but they're all smiling at me. The lines are not even straight.
gloss: Direct, undeviating.
pos: adj
tags: usually
examples: Now, as the world knows, the straightest way to the heart of the honest voter is through the women of the land, and the straightest way to the heart of the women is through the children of the land; and one method of winning both, with rural politicians, is to kiss the babies wide and far.
He had no time to set himself, but his throw was straight and true. Pick slid in, spikes high, and Schang tagged him in the ribs a foot or two from the plate.
Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.
gloss: Perfectly horizontal or vertical; not diagonal or oblique.
pos: adj
examples: Mr. Coniff: He did not have his hat on straight; that is the one thing, is it?
There's nothing more annoying than taking a great picture, only to find that the horizon isn't straight.
gloss: Describing the bat as held so as not to incline to either side; on, or near a line running between the two wickets.
pos: adj
examples: Steyn continues and it's all a bit more orderly down his end as O'Brien defends the first three balls with a straight bat and a respectful dip of the head.
gloss: Having all cylinders in a single straight line; in-line.
pos: adj
gloss: Direct in communication; unevasive, straightforward.
pos: adj
examples: Tony Blair issued a direct challenge to the IRA yesterday when he demanded they give straight answers to three simple questions[…].
What's more, he actually tries to answer a straight question with a straight answer.
gloss: Free from dishonesty; honest, law-abiding.
pos: adj
examples: ‘It wasn't the proper thing, squoire. It wasn't straight.’
How easy is it to go straight after a life spent in and out of prison?
gloss: Serious rather than comedic.
pos: adj
examples: Allan Blye, a CBC-TV mainstay in the early Sixties, worked as a singer, writer and straight and comedic actor.
All of Peter Schickele's music, both straight and comedic are integrated side by side in this chapter.
More success followed, both straight and comedic, with hits such as Dead Poets' Society (1989), in which Williams scored another Oscar nomination for skilfully handling a classic "rogue teacher" role that hovers just this side of sentimentality,[…]
gloss: In proper order; as it should be.
pos: adj
examples: Oh, music, how he loved it; it seemed to set everything straight all at once in his head.
"If you wonder why folks can't take the news seriously, here's Exhibit A," said one blogger. "Lord Jesus, how can the reporter file this story with a straight face?"
gloss: In a row, in unbroken sequence; consecutive.
pos: adj
examples: After four straight wins, Mudchester United are top of the league.
It moves them from 17th to 12th on seven points, while Bolton are now bottom of the table with five straight defeats.
As of October 29th, three-month dollar Libor (the rate at which banks borrow from each other) had fallen for 13 straight days and was nearly one-and-a-half percentage points below its October 10th level.
gloss: Describing the sets in a match of which the winner did not lose a single set.
pos: adj
examples: Murray started well against Marcos Baghdatis before slumping to defeat in straight sets and the British No1 admitted he may not have been mentally prepared for the rigours of the ATP Tour after a gruelling start to 2011.
gloss: Making no exceptions or deviations in one's support of the organization and candidates of a political party.
pos: adj
tags: US
examples: a straight Republican
a straight Democrat
gloss: Containing the names of all the regularly nominated candidates of a single party and no others.
pos: adj
tags: US
examples: a straight ballot
gloss: Conventional; mainstream; socially acceptable.
pos: adj
tags: colloquial
examples: Although Eyles, the minor celebrity, is respected by his co-workers, he looks out of place among the dozens of short-haired, short-sleeved technocrats who man the Lab. “No doubt about it,” he says, “there are an awful lot of people around here you’d have to call straight.”
I've learned that there are two types of gays—straight gays and kinky gays.
You say you've got to go home / Well at least there's someone there that you can talk to / And you never have to face up to the night on your own / Jesus, it must be great to be straight
‘Her last album was a bit too straight,’ he says, ‘but this one puts her in a more contemporary framework and softens her music.’
"When you say he's a straight guy, you mean[…]?" I held up my left hand as if it were a shield and spun my ring around. I told her: "He works on Wall Street.[…]He wouldn't understand my business. He's always had a straight job. His entire life he's been so – so normal that he doesn't even know how normal he is.[…]He doesn't know I'm a hooker. I'm pretending to be a straight chick. And it's working! And that makes him a straight guy. It's ... I feel like Dr. Frankenhooker."
gloss: Heterosexual.
pos: adj
tags: colloquial
examples: Reuben, David R. (1969), chapter 8, in Everything you always wanted to know about sex but were too afraid to ask, New York: David McKay Company, Inc., published 1970, →LCCN, Homosexuals have their own language?, page 146: “STRAIGHT: a heterosexual”
Ain't nobody straight in L.A. / It seems that everybody is gay
We only appear straight for the first five seconds. Just walking down the street, in the diner, or at the boardwalk, we hear, "Is she a man? Is she a woman? If she is a straight woman, what is she doing with this gay man?" We check in with each other. "What do you think, is it okay? I think we should go. I think we should cross over to the other side. Danger."
["][…]He's a straight guy who does drag." At that, the man laughed. "Oh, you're putting me on!" He decided I must have been pulling his leg the whole time. He glanced back at my husband again. "So what's his number?" "The same as mine."
Some of my friends – gay and straight – seem unable to understand the close but platonic nature of my and Gian's relationship, but have been supportive.
Angela smiles. ‘I'm straight, Zoe, and I'm happily married.’
Every other mode of social discourse is "other," whether it be termed gay (or the newly acceptable queer), bisexual, or asexual, or embodied in the concept of the spinster, the confirmed bachelor, the old maid, or the same-sex couple who will never fit into the "straight" world, and doesn't or don't want to. The state of nonstraightness is essentially suspect; it is not seen as "right [or] correct."
Why did he have to be straight? It's my tragedy. When we went camping with the school, we shared a tent. I was hoping for a Brokeback Mountain moment. I mean, I know he's straight, but there's always hope.
gloss: Occurring between people of opposite sex (sometimes, but not always, specifically between heterosexual people).
pos: adj
tags: colloquial
examples: straight marriage, sex, relationships
However, a "man/woman relationship" with a bisexual person in it, is not a "straight" relationship[…]
What was possible family-wise was fairly limited, though many gays, lesbians, and bisexuals had children in straight relationships and then came out.
gloss: Related to conventional sexual intercourse.
pos: adj
tags: slang
examples: “That coffee-an’ mac you got,” a French girl would crack to a straight one, and then it was on—hair came out by the handful, some bleached and some unbleached.
gloss: Not using alcohol, drugs, etc.
pos: adj
tags: colloquial
examples: For all the boredom the straight life brings, it's not too bad.
‘Alex's dad used a lot of drugs. He's been straight for years now, but it took a long time for him to be able to deal with his feelings.’
gloss: Not plus size; thin.
pos: adj
examples: The shirts only come in straight sizes, not in plus sizes.
shopping at a straight-sized store
gloss: Strait; narrow.
pos: adj
tags: rare
examples: Egypt is a long country, but it is straight, that is to say, narrow.
that the old streets are unfit for the present frequency of Coaches; and that the passage of Ludgate is a throat too straight for the body.
"Enter ye into the straight gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth unto destruction, and many go in thereat; because straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."
Family or Gentile expansion: “Behold now the place where we dwell with thee is too straight for us.”
One is a wide gate and broad way seeker, while the other is the straight gate and narrow way seeker.
gloss: Stretched out; fully extended.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
gloss: Thorough; utter; unqualified.
pos: adj
tags: slang
examples: A real pimp is a gentleman, but these are pimps in gorilla suits. They hang around pimps, they have hoes on the track working for them, they may even look like pimps, but they are straight simps.
gloss: Of spirits: undiluted, unmixed; neat.
pos: adj
examples: Real cowboys know how to rope, ride a horse and drink whisky straight.
The Martini is still in belief, if not in fact, the centerpiece of a rite, and people who would not drink straight gin on the rocks will drink straight gin on the rocks if it is called a Martini.
gloss: Sent at a full rate for immediate delivery; being a fast telegram.
pos: adj
tags: historical
examples: “Was it a straight message?” Miss Jenny asked. The other said yes and she added: “Horace must have got rich, like the soldiers say all the Y.M.C.A. did. Well, if it has taught a man like Horace to make money, the war was a pretty good thing, after all.”
gloss: Concerning the property allowing the parallel transport of vectors along a course that keeps tangent vectors remain as such throughout that course (a course which is straight, a straight curve, is a geodesic).
pos: adj
gloss: OK, all right, fine; in a good state or situation.
pos: adj
tags: informal
examples: "Is something on your mind?" "Nah, I'm straight".
Just making sure you're straight
gloss: On good terms.
pos: adj
tags: informal
reciprocal
examples: We had a bit of a disagreement, but we're straight now.
gloss: Of a direction relative to the subject, precisely; as if following a direct line.
pos: adv
examples: The door will be straight ahead of you.
Go straight back.
gloss: Directly; without pause, delay or detour.
pos: adv
examples: On arriving at work, he went straight to his office.
Tartarian theeues,
That lie in ambuſh, waiting for a pray:
What ſhould we doe but bid them battel ſtraight,
And rid the world of thoſe deteſted troopes?
I know thy generous temper well; / Fling but the appearance of dishonour on it, / It straight takes fire, and mounts into a blaze.
"I've had just abart enough of you and your blinkin' game, Toady Joolby. Here, I'd sooner smash the bloody thing, straight, than be such a ruddy mug as to swallow any of your blahsted promises […]"
gloss: Continuously; without interruption or pause.
pos: adv
examples: He claims he can hold his breath for three minutes straight.
gloss: Of speech or information, without prevarication or holding back; directly; straightforwardly; plainly.
pos: adv
examples: "By ginger, Mudgy, you do go off the handle over nothing. I tell you straight, I was damned annoyed with you this afternoon, going pop like that at a man over nothing."
gloss: Something that is not crooked or bent such as a part of a road or track.
pos: noun
examples: After four grueling laps, the race had come down to a sprint. Into the straight, although my legs were burning, I called on them for more, and they responded. On my inside the maroon singlet came with me, until it was just the two of us heading for the line.
Seppi started the engine, then shifted first gear and sped away into second, then third and fourth gear. Frank heard the roar of the Porsche's engine further down the straight and the back short straight. He held a stopwatch in his hand, waiting for him to come up into the straight from the hairpin curve.
gloss: Five cards in sequence.
pos: noun
gloss: A heterosexual.
pos: noun
tags: colloquial
examples: My friends call straights "heteros".
gloss: A normal person; someone in mainstream society.
pos: noun
tags: slang
examples: You live with straights who tell you you was king / Jump when your momma tell you anything
Boys! Boys! You're scaring the straights, okay? Is there any way that we could do this tomorrow?
More importantly, Blows Against the Empire […] more than any other work revealed the split vision towards space exploration among many in the counter-culture: a romantic vision of the freedom offered by space that had been fostered by a lifetime of science fiction consumption, immersion in a technological society, the countercultural yearning for speed and “the road,” and, thanks to LSD and other hallucinogens, a unique preappreciation of space traveling not available to straights, versus the bland, oppressive vision of exploration offered by NASA, itself just one part of a larger destructive system that was devastating Earth and that could only offer further oppression in space, not liberation.
gloss: A cigarette, particularly one containing tobacco instead of marijuana.
pos: noun
tags: slang
examples: A straight = a straighter = a straight cut, une cigarette en tabac de Virginie.]
gloss: A chiropractor who relies solely on spinal adjustment, with no other treatments.
pos: noun
gloss: A cat that has straight ears despite belonging to a breed that often has folded ears.
pos: noun
examples: 2021, B. J. Deming, 25 More Facts About House Cats
A hopeful sign of compromise is the growing popularity of Scottish Fold "straights" (cats like Maru, without droopy ears).
gloss: To straighten.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: One man draws out the wire , another straights it , a third cuts it , a fourth points it , a fifth grinds it at the top for receiving the head
Antonyms: bent
crooked
curved
Derived words: antistraight
arrow-straight
backstraight
bone-straight
costraight
damn straight
draw a straight furrow
enstraighten
gay-straight alliance
get one's head straight
get one's priorities straight
get one's story straight
get straight
go straight
have one's head screwed on straight
I'm straight
inside straight draw
keep straight
nonstraight
not see straight
open ended straight draw
play it straight
put straight
put the record straight
quasistraight
ramrod straight
real and straight
right out straight
scare straight
set straight
set the record straight
straggot
straight A
straight-A
straight-acting
straight and narrow
straight angle
straight apostrophe
straight arch
straight-arm
straight arm
straight arrow
straight A's
straight As
straight as a die
straight as an arrow
straight as a soldier
straight away
straightaway
straight bat
straightbill
straightbred
straight bridge
straight chain
straight-chain
straight cigarette
straight condenser
straight cover
straight-cut
straightdar
straight dinkum
straight dope
straight edge
straightedge
straight-edger
straight-eight
straighten
straight engine
straightface
straight face
straight-faced
straightfag
straight flush
straightfolk
straightforth
straightforward
straight from the horse's mouth
straight from the shoulder
straight goods
straight-hearted
straight hit
straighthood
straighthorn
straightie
straightish
straightjacket
straight job
straight-joint
straight lace
straight-laced
straight line
straightly
straight man
straightness
straight, no chaser
straightoid
straight out of the chute
straight peen hammer
straight piano
straight-piped
straight play
straight poker
straight pool
straight pride
straight pull
straight-pull
straight quote
straight r
straight razor
straight red
straight red card
straight-sets
straight shirttail
straight shooter
straight-shooter
straight-shooting
straight sinus
straight-six
straightsplain
straightsplaining
straight supremacy
straight talk
straight talker
straight-thinking
straight-through
straight ticket
straight time
straight tip
straight trade
straight-tusked elephant
straight up
straight-up
straight up and down
straightwash
straightway
straightwise
straight woman
straighty
super-straight
super straight
superstraight
unstraight
up-and-down straight draw
up and down straight draw
walk a straight line
walk in straight lines
shoot someone straight
straight ahead
straight-from-the-shoulder
straight off
straight out
straight out of the gate
think straight
back straight
gut-shot straight
home straight
inside straight
nut straight
pit straight
the length of the Flemington straight
Translations:
lang: Afrikaans
word: reguit
lang: Armenian
word: ազնիվ
roman: azniv
lang: Azerbaijani
word: açıq
lang: Bashkir
word: тура
roman: tura
lang: Belarusian
word: прамы́
roman: pramý
lang: Bulgarian
word: прям
roman: prjam
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 率直
roman: shuàizhí
lang: Czech
word: přímý
lang: Danish
word: ligefrem
lang: Dutch
word: zoals het hoort
lang: Estonian
word: otsekohene
lang: Finnish
word: suora
lang: Finnish
word: rehellinen
lang: Finnish
word: vilpitön
lang: French
word: comme il faut
lang: German
word: aufrecht
lang: German
word: aufrichtig
lang: German
word: offen
lang: German
word: ungeschminkt
lang: German
word: direkt
lang: Greek
word: ειλικρινής
roman: eilikrinís
lang: Ancient Greek
word: εὐθύς
roman: euthús
lang: Hebrew
word: יָשִׁיר
roman: yashír
lang: Hungarian
word: egyenes
lang: Hungarian
word: őszinte
lang: Hungarian
word: nyílt
lang: Ingrian
word: soora
lang: Ingrian
word: vernoi
lang: Irish
word: díreach
lang: Italian
word: retto
lang: Italian
word: diretto
lang: Japanese
word: 率直
roman: sotchoku
lang: Japanese
word: ストレート
roman: sutorēto
lang: Latin
word: dīrēctus
lang: Lithuanian
word: tiesus
lang: Macedonian
word: отворен
roman: otvoren
lang: Macedonian
word: искрен
roman: iskren
lang: Māori
word: pono
lang: Persian
word: رک
roman: rok
lang: Polish
word: prosty
lang: Portuguese
word: direto
lang: Portuguese
word: honesto
lang: Russian
word: прямо́й
roman: prjamój
lang: Sanskrit
word: ऋजु
roman: ṛju
lang: Scots
word: straucht
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: dìreach
lang: Spanish
word: franco
lang: Swahili
word: -nyofu
lang: Swedish
word: rak
lang: Ukrainian
word: прями́й
roman: prjamýj
lang: Ukrainian
word: відве́ртий
roman: vidvértyj
lang: Ukrainian
word: безпосере́дній
roman: bezposerédnij
lang: Vietnamese
word: thẳng
lang: Vietnamese
word: thẳng thắn