deadpan

Etymology

dead + pan (“face”)

adj

1. Deliberately impassive or expressionless.
   a deadpan face or look
2. Having such a face or look.
   The comedian remained deadpan.
3. Impassive.
   deadpan behaviour or speech

adv

1. In a deadpan manner.
   A city-hired consultant from a firm called Urban Futures was booed repeatedly by the agitated homeowners as he talked deadpan, in bureaucratese, about his firm's "evidentiary record" pointing to blight in the neighborhood. 2004, Steven Greenhut, Abuse of Power: How the Government Misuses Eminent Domain

noun

1. A style of comedic delivery in which something humorous is said or done while not exhibiting a change in emotion or facial expression.
   MAREK: But really the deadpan is key. You can essentially trick people into laughing at nothing. 2007, Meredith Gran, Octopus Pie #71: Deadpan

verb

1. To express (oneself) in an impassive or expressionless manner.
   Kidd deadpanned it, stared glassily back at Maitland. 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 496