Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use straight in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, adverb, noun

Straight means not crooked, curly, or bent; having a constant direction throughout its length. Example: “Pepper has a stronger flavor when it is ground straight from a mill.”

Examples of straight by meaning

adjectiveNot crooked, curly, or bent; having a constant direction throughout its length.

  • The lines are not even straight.2011 March 22, Adharanand Finn, The Guardian

adjectiveDirect, undeviating.

  • He had no time to set himself, but his throw was straight and true.2000, Allan Wood, Babe Ruth and the 1918 Red Sox, page 293
  • 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.2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55

adjectivePerfectly horizontal or vertical; not diagonal or oblique.

  • Coniff: He did not have his hat on straight; that is the one thing, is it?1925, United States House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee No. 1, Charges Against William E. Baker, U.S. District Judge
  • There's nothing more annoying than taking a great picture, only to find that the horizon isn't straight.2004, Chris Weston, 500 Digital Photography Hints, Tips, and Techniques

adjectiveDescribing the bat as held so as not to incline to either side; on, or near a line running between the two wickets.

  • 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.2011 March 15, Alan Gardner, Barney Ronay, The Guardian

adjectiveDirect in communication; unevasive, straightforward.

  • What's more, he actually tries to answer a straight question with a straight answer.2020 December 2, Andy Byford talks to Paul Clifton, “I enjoy really big challenges...”, in Rail, page 50

adjectiveFree from dishonesty; honest, law-abiding.

  • How easy is it to go straight after a life spent in and out of prison?2010 August 4, The Guardian, Out of prison and trying to go straight

adjectiveSerious rather than comedic.

  • Allan Blye, a CBC-TV mainstay in the early Sixties, worked as a singer, writer and straight and comedic actor.1988, Ed Gould, Entertaining Canadians: Canada's international stars, 1900-1988, Cappis Pr Pub Ltd, →ISBN
  • All of Peter Schickele's music, both straight and comedic are integrated side by side in this chapter.2004, Tammy Ravas, Peter Schickele: A Bio-bibliography, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN

adjectiveIn proper order; as it should be.

  • Oh, music, how he loved it; it seemed to set everything straight all at once in his head.2007, Grant Allen, What's Bred in the Bone, page 140
  • "Lord Jesus, how can the reporter file this story with a straight face?"2010 August 15, Paul Gallagher, The Observer

More sentences with straight

  • Pepper has a stronger flavor when it is ground straight from a mill.From the entry mill
  • I brought home from the market a nice bunch of fresh spinach leaves straight from the farm.From the entry fresh
  • He got the ball, and kicked it straight out into touch.From the entry touch
  • A piece of debris tore a tiny straight channel through the satellite.From the entry tear
  • You're talking a load of twaddle. Get your facts straight, man!From the entry twaddle
  • Tiger Woods pured his first drive straight down the middle of the fairway.From the entry pure
  • With both players having an ace-high straight, the pot was a chop.From the entry chop
  • When you kids form a straight line I'll hand out the lollies.From the entry form
  • The interview is two straight hours in conversation with the senator.From the entry conversation
  • The precinct is about ten minutes’ walk, straight ahead, so you can’t miss it.From the entry walk
  • He aimed at the target, but the arrow flew straight over it.From the entry aim
  • The car rolled to the edge of the cliff and went straight over.From the entry over
  • The previous wall outlet tests at their colo facility ran for 6 days straight without issue.From the entry colo
  • With no hearts in the river and no chance to hit his straight, he folded.From the entry fold
  • I walked past the poker tables and went straight to the slots.From the entry slot
  • Others went to bed for the night; he worked straight through.From the entry through
  • The road took a brief detour around the large rock formation, then went straight on.From the entry around
  • She needs to get her priorities straight and stop playing games.From the entry priority
  • If it isn't in a straight line or marked with a label, it's a weed.From the entry weed
  • I got a call saying to come straight away. What's up?From the entry what's up
  • Do we go left here or straight on? Hold on, let me just get my bearings.From the entry bearing
  • The flop of 3-6-Q gave Brunson an open-ended straight draw with his 4-5 of hearts.From the entry open-ended
  • They waltzed for twenty-one hours and seventeen minutes straight, setting a record.From the entry waltz
  • My junk mail goes straight into the round file the moment it arrives.From the entry round file
  • Don't touch the pie! It's piping hot, straight out of the oven.From the entry piping hot
  • She went from getting Cs and Ds to earning straight As.From the entry as
  • You will probably have to pull teeth to get a straight answer from a car salesman.From the entry pull teeth
  • It had rained for three days straight, and the dreary weather dragged the townspeople's spirits down.From the entry dreary

Meaning of straight

  1. adjective Not crooked, curly, or bent; having a constant direction throughout its length.
  2. adjective Direct, undeviating.
  3. adjective Perfectly horizontal or vertical; not diagonal or oblique.

Full definition of straight

Questions about straight in a sentence

How do you use straight in a sentence?
Straight is used as an adjective, adverb and noun. For example: “Pepper has a stronger flavor when it is ground straight from a mill.”
What is a short sentence with straight?
“The lines are not even straight.”
What does straight mean?
Straight means not crooked, curly, or bent; having a constant direction throughout its length.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: straight (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use straight in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/straight. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.