Poker face definition, an expressionless face: He can tell a funny story with a poker face. Poker definition is - one that pokes; especially: a metal rod for stirring a fire. First Known Use of poker. Noun (1) 1534, in the meaning defined above. Noun (2) 1832, in the meaning defined above. See More Nearby Entries. Statistics for poker. Look-up Popularity.

What's The Meaning Of The Word Poker Face

noun

1An impassive expression that hides one's true feelings.
- ‘In Europe and North America, these display rules encourage vivid facial expressions of emotion; a poker face is generally regarded as dull or deceptive.’
- ‘Scott hid his grin behind a poker face - something he'd learned from Johnny.’
- ‘When we express our goodwill, we usually use a smile or a welcoming expression, not just a political poker face.’
- ‘He looked like he was brooding, but was hiding it behind the perfect poker face.’
- ‘Without comment, he took the two cards he needed, hiding his contempt behind his poker face.’
- ‘When he told me, I kept my poker face, but my insides went away.’
- ‘He kept a poker face, reported the facts, and protected his sources.’
- ‘My question is, when you know the contestant is giving you the wrong answer and a lot of money is at stake, how do you keep your poker face?’
- ‘‘Now you're sure you know the rules’ I asked them over the top of my glasses with my sternest poker face.’
- ‘Maguire walks this line with great skill and an unbelievable poker face.’
- ‘He called his boss at the forwarding company ‘stoneman,’ because his boss has a poker face.’
- ‘Does he regularly practice his poker face in front of the mirror?’
- ‘Students usually keep a poker face because they don't want to be called on.’
- ‘It's a poker face that's required in this game, and I've never been much good at cards.’
- ‘The joy of it is in the sweat and butterflies, the clamped lips and steely eyes of the poker face.’
- ‘‘Done,’ he said simply, sporting his best poker face.’
- ‘‘Well,’ putting on her best poker face, Jennifer continued.’
- ‘Years of practice in maintaining a poker face allowed him to take in his stride the invasion of his office by young women in light, summer dresses and a tale about one of them digging up a fortune while creating a winter herb garden.’
- ‘The thing is, I still have to put my poker face up.’
- ‘My hands shook from fear but I kept my poker face.’
1. 1.1A person with a poker face.

Pronunciation

poker face

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05:49
31 Oct

One of my favorite things about being part of a niche culture is the special language that develops around it. While we may not always think of it as such, poker most certainly has its own lexicon full of words and phrases that a layman would never understand. I honestly doubt my own mother would know what the “flop” was, much less a phrase like, “angle shooting.” However, there is one poker term that, among all others, has risen out of our game and into the common language at large, the “poker face.”

The phrase poker face is a phrase thrown around constantly to refer to keeping one’s emotions in check. Upon meeting someone with a stoic nature one might comment, “That’s quite a poker face you’ve got there.” In another instance one might say, “The boss can smell fear. If you go in there, You’d better have your poker face ready.” But where did the phrase come from? Has it existed since the dawn of poker or is it secretly a recent invention? I set out to track it down.

My first google searches were fruitless. I got all sorts of results defining the phrase and many more about the hit Lady Gaga song of the same name, but no one knew where it started. I started combing through encyclopedias looking for an entry on the phrase. “Poker” always had results, but no one had a story for the creation of “poker face.” Finally I resorted to a rare trick called using something I learned in college. I learned some years ago that the Oxford English Dictionary includes, among its vast wealth of information, a list of important places where a word or phrase has been quoted in publication. Usually, this includes the word’s first instance of publication. I searched for “poker face” and after following that trail for a bit, I finally came up with this:

It follows that the possession of a good poker face is an advantage. No one who has any pretensions to good play will betray the value of his hand by gesture, change of countenance, or any other symptom.'Cavendish. Round Games at Cards. London: Thomas De La Rue & Co. 1875;

Poker Face Lyrics Meaning

Define The Word Poker Face

As far as I can tell, this quotation is the first ever published use of the phrase “poker face.” It comes from a book about card games and gambling that was originally published back in 1875! While it is possible that the phrase had some use before it was ever in printed form, there is no way to prove it, and we must give credit to Cavendish, whose first name I was unable to find.

Frankly, the whole book is quite interesting as it teaches what, at the time, must have been quite new to a lot of people. Moreover, I got a kick out of some of the older terms used. For example, while the author never calls it “Blackjack,” He does go into great detail about a French game called “Vingt-Et-Un” which translates to “21.” It is played nearly identically to modern Blackjack except that you bet after receiving your first card. It also appears as though a “full house” used to just be called a “full hand.” If you enjoy the history of our sport and want to check it out, can find the free version here, thanks to Google Books.

What is the definition of the word poker face

Wore A Poker Face Meaning Idiom

As to the rest of my questions, it seems the idea of the poker face came around a significant time later than the game itself. While it is very hard to pin down exactly when “Poker” became popular, card games of skill and betting have existed for hundreds of years previous to 1875. While the word ”poker” itself entered the English language some time in the early 1800’s, games like Brag (English), Poque (French), and Pochen (German) are well evidenced back into the first half of the 1700’s. Each of these games revolve similarly around cards and gambling. They are likely the progenitors of the poker we know today. And of course, these games could not have been played without bluffing, so the idea of concealing your facial tells probably predates our popular phrase by a good 100-150 years.

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