queer

Pronunciation

• enPR: kwîr, IPA ^(key): /kwir/
• SAMPA: /kwir/

• Audio (US)

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Adjective

Positive queer

Comparative queerer

Superlative queerest

1. If something is queer, it is a little bit strange, it is not quite normal.
2. (dated)(slang) If someone feels queer, that person is mentally strange or sick.
3. (slang) (see usage notes) Another word for homosexual or for LGBT people in general. It is sometimes used as a derogatory term and some people see it as a slur.
4. (see usage notes) Denoting or relating to a sexual or gender identity that does not correspond to established ideas of sexuality and gender, especially heterosexual norms.

Usage notes

• The word queer meaning homosexual (senses 3 and 4, and the noun sense) is still considered highly derogatory and offensive when used by non-homosexuals (especially heterosexuals, not gay, lesbian, bisexual and pansexual etc.) or people who does not identify as queer, it is often used by gay man themselves as a positive and inoffensive term, such as queer cinema, queer politics.

Synonyms

• (not normal) odd, strange, weird, unusual, bizarre
• (homosexual) gay

Antonyms

• normal
• straight

Noun

Singular queer

Plural queers

1. (slang) (offensive) (see usage notes above) A person who is homosexual.
2. (see usage notes above) A person whose gender identity is nonbinary or differs from the sex they had or were identified as having at birth.

Synonyms

• gay
• fairy
• faggot
• fag

Related words

• genderqueer

Verb

Plain form queer

Third-person singular queers

Past tense queered

Past participle queered

Present participle queering

1. (slang) To queer somebody's pitch means to upset someone's plans.
2. (rare) To queer something is to see it, examine it, or show it from a queer perspective.