straight

pronunciation

How to pronounce straight in British English: UK [streɪt] word uk audio image

How to pronounce straight in American English: US [streɪt] word us audio image

Noun:

a heterosexual person; someone having a sexual orientation to persons of the opposite sex
a poker hand with 5 consecutive cards (regardless of suit)
a straight segment of a roadway or racecourse
Adjective:

successive (without a break)
having no deviations
(of hair) having no waves or curls
erect in posture
right; in keeping with the facts
honest and morally upright
no longer coiled
without curves
neatly arranged; not disorderly
characterized by honesty and fairness
not homosexual
accurately fitted; level
without water
reliable in matters of fact
following a correct or logical method
rigidly conventional or old-fashioned
Adverb:

without deviation
in a forthright manner; candidly or frankly
in a straight line; in a direct course

Word Origin

straight: straight: [14] Straight began life as the past participle of stretch. Nowadays this verb has a perfectly normal past form (stretched), but in Middle English it was straught (source of distraught [14], an alteration of distract) or straight – whence the adjective straight. The sense ‘not bent or curved’ derives from the notion of stretching something between two points. Straightaway [15] originally meant ‘by a straight path’; the temporal sense ‘immediately’ emerged in the 16th century.=> distract, distraught, stretch

straight (adj.1): late 14c., "direct, undeviating; not crooked, not bent or curved," of a person, "direct, honest;" properly "stretched," adjectival use of Old English streht (earlier streaht), past participle of streccan "to stretch" (see stretch (v.)). Related: Straightly; straightness. Meaning "true, direct, honest" is from 1520s. Of communication, "clear, unambiguous," from 1862. Sense of "undiluted, uncompromising" (as in straight whiskey, 1874) is American English, first recorded 1856. As an adverb from c. 1300, "in a straight line, without swerving or deviating." Theatrical sense of "serious" (as opposed to popular or comic) is attested from 1895; vaudeville slang straight man first attested 1923. Go straight in the underworld slang sense is from 1919; straighten up "become respectable" is from 1907. To play it straight is from 1906 in theater, 1907 in sports ("play fair"), with figurative extension; later perhaps also from jazz. Straight arrow "decent, conventional person" is 1969, from archetypal Native American brave name. Straight shooter is from 1928. Straight As "top grades" is from 1920.

straight (adj.2): "conventional," especially "heterosexual," 1941, a secondary sense evolved from straight (adj.1), probably suggested by straight and narrow path "course of conventional morality and law-abiding behavior," which is based on a misreading of Matt. vii:14 (where the gate is actually strait), and the other influence seems to be from strait-laced.

straight (n.): 1640s, "a level position," from straight (adj.1). From 1864 as "straight part of a race track." Poker sense attested from 1841. Meaning "conventional person" is first recorded 1967, from straight (adj.2).

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