1Extending or moving uniformly in one direction only; without a curve or bend.

1. 1.1 (of hair) not curly or wavy.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • My hair was straight and hung about two inches over my shoulders; not long and shiny like my sister's locks.
   • I have naturally straight hair, but lately it started to curl more than I'd like it to.
   • Opening the door he saw a young woman, the same age as Maggie, but with dark, straight hair, and dark eyes.
   • After a quick survey of the room, she saw that she was one of a handful of women whose hair was straight rather than curly.
   • His hair was naturally straight and it ended at around his neck area.
   • The biggest problem with having thin, straight hair is its evident lack of volume.
   • Her straight hair is tied in a ponytail and her eye shadow looks fresh.
   • Her hair was straight and had two braids that went from her temples to the back of her head.
   • She admits to feeling jealous of her younger brother's darker skin, thick straight hair and wide brown eyes.
   • She watched as the rain rinsed off Evelyn's layers of make-up and her straight hair became frizzy curls.
   • Her long, straight hair fell over her shoulders in a smooth curtain to her waist and framed her face with a startling effect.
   • The girl on the left had straight hair, unlike the other girl's, which was wavy.
   • Her hair was naturally straight so there was no reason to brush it.
   • I threw my head back and laughed, letting my long, straight hair fall down my back.
   • My hair was straight naturally, so I usually didn't do anything with it; I liked it the way it was.
   • She was certainly pretty, with straight hair down to her lower back, perfectly brushed.
   • I see a lot of girls in the media with beautiful faces and long, straight hair.
   • I have long, straight hair and I don't want it to be curly so please keep that in mind.
   • The men wear their long straight hair in braids and wear blue ponchos and white pants.
   • Some stylists are great with, say, thick full hair but have no idea how to do thin straight hair.
   • With her thick, straight hair and tanned skin, she really could be Olivia's sister.
   • In the doorway stood a thin lady with straight hair to her shoulders.
2. 1.2 (of a garment) not flared or fitted closely to the body.
   a straight skirt

   Example sentencesExamples

   • I have trouble finding jeans that have a straight leg and high waist.
   • We selected a basic straight skirt, but skirts this season have detailing you might want to consider.
   • The bride, given in marriage by her father Sean, looked radiant in a white satin, long sleeved straight dress, with a long train.
   • Choose jackets, tailored suits and shirtwaist dresses with straight, classic cuts.
   • They come pleated in long styles as well as straight and swinging styles and skirt suits are back.
   • They wore satin dresses with scalloped bodices and straight skirts and carried cream and cerise roses.
   • Women wear a straight black skirt with a slit through which can be seen layers and layers of white lace.
   • Some wear navy printed straight skirts with embroidered shoes and embroidered scarves on their heads.
   • She was wearing a simple gray T-shirt and jeans that weren't flared, but weren't straight either.
   • Denise reappeared, wearing a straight blue skirt, trying to compose herself but still looking very embarrassed.
   • Other jackets and pants have a completely new and fuller body shape, where trousers are full, very long and straight and are worn loose at the waist.
   • This consisted of a white fitted shirt, a blue straight skirt which came just above the knee and a blue sweatshirt and tie.
   • Sally suggests putting together a pair of straight trousers with a biggish top and a belt slung around loosely.
   • The straight black skirt made her legs longer and her hips curvier; it showed her figure.
   • There was apparently to be a return to popularity of the three-quarter tunic buttoning down the back and the straight skirt.
   • She wore a straight black skirt that reached to the floor and a white blouse with silver buttons.
   • The waitresses wear authentic Thai clothes and look elegant in their long straight skirts and blouses in silks of every hue of the rainbow.
3. 1.3 (of an aim, blow, or course) going direct to the intended target.
   a straight punch to the face

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Use a line of tiles or lights or other markings on the ceiling to help you set a straight course.
   • They showed strong inclinations to remain on a straight course, requiring constant input to turn or tilt.
   • The path's course discourages visitors from taking a straight route to the pavilion.
   • McHale-Roe opted for straight punches to counter Siberry's tactic which was to aim hooked body punches.
   • I have been quite intrigued by the discussion about using a GPS to hold a straight course to escape cloud.
   • The driver shouted as he changed his straight course and headed directly at Mac.
   • He set a straight course for Sabrina, who was sitting on one of the controller's chairs.
   • She wasn't tall enough or strong enough to keep me on a straight course, so she did her best to keep me from crashing into things instead.
   • Why is it that when you stop paddling a kayak, it turns sharply instead of maintaining a straight course?
   • They are open to body blows in the midriff and lack the ability to throw straight punches.
   • Here you should go down for a couple of hundred metres and then turn left at the wooden shack to carry on the essentially straight route.
   • The sword came in a straight uppercut, simple, yet deadly as it cut a gash up his side.
   • A while ago she had begun to worry about how far it was when he finally turned off his straight course.
   • She bent down and pushed low branches out of her way, trying to keep to a straight course.
   • The tip of the weapon should form a straight trajectory to a point on the target.
   • The tip of his knife drew a line from the base of the palm following a straight course up.
   • They are weird stubby boats, and you have to do a lot more work to propel and keep them on a straight course through the water.
   • Reduced to a crawl, it wandered in circles, unable to set a straight course.

   Synonyms

   unswerving, undeviating, linear, direct, as straight as an arrow, uncurving, unbending
4. 1.4Geometry (of a line) lying on the shortest path between any two of its points.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • On this is an arrangement of straight lines, circles and semi-circles.
   • In Euclidean geometry, light travels on straight lines.
   • One finds more precise straight lines in geometry than in kinematics.
   • So the dots all lie along straight lines passing through the centre of the system of circles.
   • The formula also applies to configurations in which one or two of the touching circles are replaced by straight lines.
   • He produced a number of formulas for triangles, two sides of which were straight lines and the third was the arc of a circle.
5. 1.5 (of an arch) flat-topped.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • A flat arch, also known as jack or straight arch, extends straight across an opening with no curvature, creating a horizontal emphasis.
   • Some new longitudinal walls were made of yellow clay bricks with concrete straight arches for the doors.
   • Each of the four straight arches is flanked on either side by an engaged Doric column and surmounted by an entablature.

2Properly positioned so as to be level, upright, or symmetrical.

1. 2.1predicative In proper order or condition.
   it'll take a long time to get the place straight

   Example sentencesExamples

   • My maid is coming in the morning and I need to get the place straight so she can actually clean.
   • It took eight solid hours of cleaning to get the place straight.
   • I was pretty tired by evening - unpacking and trying to get the house straight had really taken it out of me, so instead of staying up to watch Big Brother, I went to bed early.

   Synonyms

   in order, tidy, neat and tidy, neat, shipshape, shipshape and bristol fashion, in apple-pie order, orderly, spick and span, organized, arranged, sorted out, straightened out, trim, spruce

3Not evasive; honest.

1. 3.1 Simple; straightforward.
   a straight choice between nuclear power and penury

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Disruption is inevitably compounded by having to rearrange the team to change positions and adjust tactics, rather than make a straight swap.
   • If two teams end level for second place there will be a straight play-off.
   • Sceptics point out that the poll only offered a straight choice between Whitehall and regional rule, and left out the option of more local control.
   • It seems to me he was asked a very straight and simple question that he then chose to overly complicate.
   • For now it seems like a straight choice: pay more in tax for a better service for all, or pay more privately to ensure your personal health.
   • In the eyes of our leaders there is a straight choice to be made by everyone.
   • In both cases, a straight choice is being made between doing something and paying somebody else to do it for you while you do something more lucrative.
   • This time, the message was simple and straight: You too will grow old one day.
   • I wasn't going to be doing any watching so I thought it best to put it in simple, straight terms.
   • Italy usually leaves non-meat eaters with a straight choice between pasta and pizza.
   • But give me a straight choice between this and the economics of the jungle that is fair trade, and I will choose the present system.
   • He said on Friday that if he had been given a straight choice between the Scotland job and the Leicester one, he would have taken the latter.
   • A straight biography would have been a more obvious project to undertake.
   • They're the ones that people in the industry know and recognise as the straight journalism courses.
   • On the issue of the replacement, the coach said it was not as simple as making a straight swap.
2. 3.2 (of a look) bold and steady.
   he gave her a straight, no-nonsense look

   Example sentencesExamples

   • The straight looks and answers she gives when asked about her ambitions leave no doubt that she thinks the sacrifice was worth it.
   • She fixed Anna with a straight look, one she knew would be understood.
3. 3.3 (of thinking) clear, logical, and unemotional.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • With a little bit of focussed and straight thinking, it could be more suitable for what is essentially a children's band on this channel.
   • The book combined good writing with straight thinking, and it would be a success, he predicted.

   Synonyms

   logical, rational, clear, lucid, sound, coherent, unemotional, dispassionate
4. 3.4 Not addicted to drugs.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • She tells The National Enquirer in an exclusive story that she did crack with the actor on many occasions, but while she's been straight since last August, the movie star's drug use persists.

4attributive In continuous succession.

1. 4.1 Supporting all the principles and candidates of one political party.
   he generally voted a straight ticket

   Example sentencesExamples

   • In New Hampshire the belief has always been that the option to vote straight ticket benefited the party in the majority, so much so that Democrats have been trying to abolish it for years, without success.
   • This is the kind of thing which keeps people voting straight ticket.

5(of an alcoholic drink) undiluted; neat.

6(especially of drama) serious as opposed to comic or musical; employing the conventional techniques of its art form.

7informal (of a person) conventional or respectable.

1. 7.1 Heterosexual.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • We had a whole bunch of straight people, who felt just as much a part of the night as anyone else.
   • You know, it's a huge audience: a lot of straight people, a lot of teenagers, a lot of gay people, too.
   • As you'd expect, it's more common for people to think gay men are straight than vice versa and that's often happened to me.
   • Do heterosexuals make a conscious decision to be straight?
   • And gay people are no more immune to this accusation than are straight people.
   • I'm sick of hearing homophobic straight people talking about fags.
   • In the meantime, Gray was working hard to convince a straight person in her life that it was OK to attend.
   • Privileged straight people rarely ever believe you if you tell them that so many kids get kicked out for being gay.
   • One reader even suggested that an organization should be founded to encourage other straight people to do the same.
   • We simply don't share any characteristics other than our sexuality, any more than straight people do.
   • It's far too easy to grow up as a gay man convinced that the best thing all round is to be straight.
   • I don't really care what it's called, but if non-religious straight people can get married, so should gays.
   • I mean, I love being me and part of that is being bi, and I presume straight people feel the same about their straightness.
   • My children have grown up seeing no difference between gay and straight people.
   • The fact is that gay people can serve their country just as bravely as straight people can, and thousands of them have.
   • That's what jealous straight people will do to spoil our happiness.
   • I don't usually tell people I'm straight when I'm in gay clubs; it seems bad manners, somehow.
   • Now, it's not uncommon for straight people to benignly refer to gays as queer without offending anyone.
   • The last event drew between 30 and 40 straight people, out of a crowd of about 150.
   • But let's face it - straight people have the option to get married.
   • It's ridiculous, because it doesn't work for straight people.
   • The fact of the matter is that gay people are just like straight people.
   • I spend most of my life in the company of straight people.

1In a straight line; directly.

1. 1.1 With no delay or diversion; directly or immediately.
   after dinner we went straight back to our hotel

   I fell into bed and went straight to sleep

   Example sentencesExamples

   • After Saturday's game the manager was straight on the phone looking for loan players - but the injuries have eased.
   • Scoop the mixture into the cake tin, smooth the top level and put straight into the oven.
   • I can only imagine it would be really superb straight out of the oven.
   • He walked straight to the bar and ordered a double-whiskey.
   • Vinaya was sitting on the kitchen table drinking milk straight from the carton.
   • I was straight on the phone to book tickets for one of the early previews.
   • Yet again we were straight on to the telephone explaining the issue and giving guidance for remedial action.
   • It's so rare I buy new clothes it seems a shame to put them straight in the cupboard.
   • I couldn't follow his flawed logic and I ordered him to drive straight there.
   • He was referred straight to Leeds General Infirmary and had an operation to correct the fault.
   • It's as if they know that I spend my weekends sitting in my pajamas eating Cocoa Puffs straight from the box.
   • I got straight on to the Keighley cleansing manager, who said the posters shouldn't have been removed.
   • At the end of the job, after working for 24 hours without a break in order to finish the job, they decided to drive straight back to the Midlands.
   • I grabbed my bag and walked out of the bathroom, looking down, and ran straight into an assistant principal.
   • Miss Reilly was straight out of college, all pebble glasses, big hair and tie-dyed clothes.
   • She finally exploded, sending me straight to the principal's office.
   • Just order all the personal information you want straight from the data miners themselves.
   • And, unlike many, it is ready to use straight from the box, thus avoiding frustrating delays.

   Synonyms

   directly, right, by a direct route, without deviating, in a beeline

   right away, straight away, without delay, immediately, directly, at once, as soon as possible, a.s.a.p.
2. 1.2archaic At once; immediately.
   I'll fetch up the bath to you straight

   Synonyms

   right away, straight away, without delay, immediately, directly, at once, as soon as possible, a.s.a.p.

   at once, right away, now, right now, that minute, this minute, that very minute, this very minute, that instant, this instant, immediately, instantly, in a flash, like a flash, directly, on the spot, forthwith, without further ado, without more ado, promptly, quickly, without delay, then and there, there and then, here and now, a.s.a.p., as soon as possible, as quickly as possible, with all speed

2In or into a level, even, or upright position.

3Correctly; clearly.

1. 3.1 Honestly and directly; in a straightforward manner.
   I told her straight—the kid's right

   Example sentencesExamples

   • You need to tell him straight and not make excuses; it's not your fault that you like another person and it's not as if you used to be going out with him, so it won't be so bad telling him. Just say I'm sorry, I don't feel the same.
   • I think just tell them straight that you cannot take up their job offer.

   Synonyms

   frankly, directly, straight out, candidly, honestly, forthrightly, outspokenly, plainly, point-blank, bluntly, flatly, roundly, straight from the shoulder, with no holds barred, without beating about the bush, without mincing words, unequivocally, unambiguously, in plain english, to someone's face

4Without a break; continuously.

1A part of something that is not curved or bent, especially a section of a racetrack.

1. 1.1archaic A form or position that is not curved or bent.
   the rod flew back to the straight

2(in poker) a continuous sequence of five cards.

3informal A conventional person.

1. 3.1 A heterosexual person.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • The show received wide acclaim from lesbians and straights alike.
   • ‘There is no difference on average between the economic status of gays and lesbians and straights,’ Badgett says.
   • There are no field studies that show conclusively or even indicate that homosexuals tend to raise and nurture their younger relatives more that straights do.
   • Nobody knows what makes someone gay, lesbian, bisexual or straight.
   • Giving marriage to gays doesn't mean taking it away from straights, any more than giving the vote to women meant taking it away from men, or letting blacks at the front of the bus meant that whites could no longer ride there.
   • Less homophobia does not mean gays will become like straights.
   • A lot of straights are confused about what to think about homosexuality, but it doesn't help matters that a lot of gays seem to be equally confused.
   • I have heard both gays and straights say that bisexuals can exercise heterosexual privilege and live a straight life, enjoying all the rights that gays don't have.
   • I've had a lot of straights come up to me and say, ‘We didn't know this was going on.’
   • Maybe straights will buy it because it's funny and different.
   • When I used to go out to the gay bars in Canterbury with Stephen, you would find me chatting and laughing with the straights and the lesbians, while Stephen went off with his gay friends.
   • I used my column in an uphill battle to educate gays and straights about the horrible realities of AIDS.
   • Neither does it permit gay employers or shopkeepers to discriminate against straights, or adulterers or swingers to discriminate against monogamists.
   • Attempting to turn gays straight is no less ludicrous than attempting to turn straights gay.
   • I don't think they were interested in alienating straights as much as they were in demonstrating our unstoppable ability to enjoy ourselves.
   • Like straights, gays have interpersonal issues with family, friends, coworkers and neighbors that are not related to homophobia.
   • They don't respect the sexuality of gays and lesbians the same way they do that of straights.
   • Despite these shocking cases, the overwhelming majority of straights serve with distinction and deserve America's gratitude for defending democracy.
   • Marriage is not governed by any religious authority for straights and should not be for gays.
   • Automakers are also targeting gay and lesbian consumers through ads that mean one thing to gays and another to straights.