: relating to or being music performed in an unembellished manner typical of a given idiom or performer
broadly : straightforward

Examples of straight-ahead in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The album opens with Mockingbird, a straight-ahead blues rocker that might lull you into thinking this is another Blues-slinging record. Tom Teicholz, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025 Arturo Sandoval Sandoval, renowned for blending Afro-Cuban jazz, bebop and straight-ahead jazz, performed in 1990 at the Honors tribute to his mentor Dizzy Gillespie. Cathy Applefeld Olson, Billboard, 9 Dec. 2024 Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba is very serious, without Idina Menzel’s deadpan humor, and Bailey’s Fiyero is played like a straight-ahead charmer, not a slyly fun slacker, and Michelle Yeoh’s Madame Morrible is grounded instead of grand. Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 22 Nov. 2024 The images are often metaphorical vs. a straight-ahead depiction of what’s going on. William Earl, Variety, 20 Nov. 2024 Another break from the past was in terms of straight-ahead partisanship. Gary Langer, ABC News, 6 Nov. 2024 The projects that tend to do best are either straight-ahead rock or hard-to-categorize experimentalism: As examples, Rosalia’s Motomami took the prize in 2023, while Juanes and Natalia Lafourcade shared the award in an unexpected tie last year. Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2024 For a straight-ahead scoop, take a look at my overall assessment in my Forbes column (see the link here). Lance Eliot, Forbes, 19 Sep. 2024 The macula is responsible for sharp, detailed, straight-ahead vision. Sarah Hudgens, Health, 11 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1964, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of straight-ahead was in 1964

Dictionary Entries Near straight-ahead

Cite this Entry

“Straight-ahead.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/straight-ahead. Accessed 8 Feb. 2025.

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