straight

I. n

1.

a heterosexual, particularly heard in the language of homosexuals

2.

a conventional person, someone who does not take drugs or ascribe to 'coun-terculture' values. A term from the lan-guage of drug abusers and counterculture members which was a buzzword of the later 1960s.

► 'Would you say Hunter Thompson was afraid of anything in particular? "Ah ... Straights".' (Ralph Steadman, I-D magazine, Novem-ber 1987)

3.

a cigarette (as opposed to a joint). A now dated cannabis users' term in wide currency in the 1960s.

If you give me a straight I'll roll us some-thing for the journey.

4.

South African

a bottle of alcoholic liquor. Recorded as an item of Sowetan slang in the Cape Sunday Times, 29 January 1995.

II. adj

1a.

honest, not criminal or corrupt

► 'You couldn't bribe or compromise him because he was straight. However, he was also naive.' (Former detective, Inside the Brother-hood, Martin Short, 1989)

1b.

heterosexual

In the first two sub-senses, the opposing slang term in British English is bent.

1c.

not under the influence of drugs or a drug-user

► I've been straight for three days.

Don't offer her any, she's straight. The word has been used to mean 'upright' or honest, fair, scrupulous, etc. for more than a century. The sub-senses above, not always used approvingly, were established in the 1950s and 1960s. The following sense is in ironic contrast.

2.

restored to one's desired state of drunkenness or drugged euphoria

► Just one shot and I'll be straight again.