Queer

/kwɪə/ · adjective

Meaning

(colloquial, sometimes derogatory) Homosexual..

Definitions by Sense

1. (colloquial, sometimes derogatory) Homosexual.
2. (colloquial, sometimes derogatory) Non-heterosexual or non-cisgender: homosexual, bisexual, asexual, transgender, etc.
3. (loosely) Pertaining to sexual or gender behaviour or identity which does not conform to conventional heterosexual or cisgender norms, assumptions etc.
4. (dated) Strange, odd, or different; whimsical.
5. (British, informal, dated) Slightly unwell.
6. (British, slang, dated) Drunk.
7. (colloquial, sometimes derogatory) A person who is or appears homosexual, or who has homosexual qualities.
8. (colloquial, sometimes derogatory) A person of any non-heterosexual sexuality or sexual identity.

Example Sentences

“Such a Momma’s boy.” The old men had started up again—or perhaps they had never stopped. “No matter who he schtupped. Even Marilyn. I wouldn’t be surprised he was queer.” / “Strange, yes. Weird, yes. Queer, I don’t think.”

This is a one-shot thing we got goin’ on here. […] You know I ain’t queer.

the queer community

If gender is no longer to be understood as consolidated through normative sexuality, then is there a crisis of gender that is specific to queer contexts?

Historically, this has meant that queer sexuality—defined here not literally or only as same-gender desire but as "the sex of others," meaning any sexuality outside the bounds of the reproductive, white, and genitally oriented—is often positioned against and even as toxic to "nature".

And yet queer and transgender people are finding a place in a lifestyle that, at least online, often occupies the same digital space as content from conservative creators, said Devin Proctor, an assistant professor of anthropology at Elon University in North Carolina who studies how we construct identities online.

1927, J. B. S. Haldane, “Possible Worlds” in Possible Worlds and Other Papers, London: Chatto & Windus, Now, my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.

An old long-faced, long-bodied servant, gave a queer look

Synonyms for queer

Antonyms for queer

Related Words

Word Forms

• queerer
• queerest
• qwer
• queers
• queering
• queered
• more queer
• most queer

Usage Notes

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