English Explanatory Dictionary

queer

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Homosexual.
  2. Non-heterosexual or non-cisgender: homosexual, bisexual, asexual, transgender, etc.
  3. Pertaining to sexual or gender behaviour or identity which does not conform to conventional heterosexual or cisgender norms, assumptions etc.
  4. Strange, odd, or different; whimsical.
  5. Slightly unwell.
  6. Drunk.
noun
  1. A person who is or appears homosexual, or who has homosexual qualities.
  2. A person of any non-heterosexual sexuality or sexual identity.
  3. A person of any genderqueer identity.
  4. Counterfeit money.
verb
  1. To render an endeavor or agreement ineffective or null.
  2. To puzzle.
  3. To ridicule; to banter; to rally.
  4. To spoil the effect or success of, as by ridicule; to throw a wet blanket on; to spoil.
  5. To reevaluate or reinterpret (a work) with an eye to sexual orientation and/or to gender, as by applying queer theory.
  6. To make a work more appealing or attractive to LGBT people, such as by not having strict genders for playable characters.
adv
  1. Queerly.
  2. Very, extremely.
adj
  1. Of or relating to the culture surrounding queer people.

Pronunciation

/kwɪə/ /kwɪɹ/ en-us-queer.ogg /kwiə̯/ /kwiɹ/ /kwɪr/ /kwɛː/

Word forms

queer queerer queerest qwer queers queering queered more queer most queer

Etymology

Attested since about 1510, at first in Scots. Usually taken to be from Middle Low German (Brunswick dialect) queer (“oblique, off-center”) or the related German quer (“diagonal”), from Old Saxon thwerh, from Proto-West Germanic *þwerh, from Proto-Germanic *þwerhaz, from Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to turn, twist, wind”); compare Latin torqueō, and see more at thwart. The OED argues against this due to the semantic differences and the date at which the word appears in Scots. Began to be used to describe gay people in the late 1800s; see usage notes for more.

Synonyms

homophile homosexual like that queer similisexual that way aberrant abnormal alien anomalous as queer as Dick's hatband bizarre booky curious deviant discrepant eerie eldritch errant exceptional extraordinary fey forby freak freakish freaky fremd funny heteroclite hinky incongruous incongruitous irregular kooky monstrous nonstandard odd outlandish out of the ordinary outré peculiar quaint queer as a clockwork orange queer as a nine bob note queer as a three dollar bill queer as a coot queer as Dick's hatband rare rum rummy selcouth seld singular strange trippy uncanny uncommon uncouth unconventional unearthly

Derived words

anarcha-queer antiqueer as queer as Dick's hatband catch the queer cisqueer cripqueer cyberqueer Fully Automated Luxury Queer Space Communism genderqueer heteroqueer neuroqueer nonqueer postqueer queerable queer anarchism queer anarchist queerantagonism queerantine queer as a clockwork orange queer as a coot queer as a nine bob note queer as a three dollar bill queer as a three-dollar bill queer as Dick's hatband queerbait queer-baiting queerbaiting queer baiting queer-bash queer basher queer bashing queer-bashing queercore queercrip queerdar queerdom queer duck queer fish queerhood queerification queer in the head queerious queerish queerism queerization queerize queer ken queer liberation queerlord queerly queermisia queermisic queermo queerness queernormative queernormativity queerosexual queer parade queerphobia queerphobic

Translations

Arabic: كْوِير Bulgarian: извратен Catalan: marica Chinese Mandarin: 酷儿 Chinese Mandarin: 酷兒 /酷儿 Danish: queer Esperanto: kvira Esperanto: GLATa Finnish: sateenkaari- Finnish: pervo French: queer Georgian: ქვიარი German: queer Hebrew: קְוִּויר Hebrew: קווירית Hungarian: queer Icelandic: hinsegin Indonesian: belok Irish: aiteach Japanese: クィア Latvian: kvīrs Macedonian: настран Malay: kuira Norwegian: skeiv Polish: queerowy Portuguese: queer Réunion Creole French: kwir Northern Sami: bonju Spanish: queer Spanish: torcido Spanish: cuir Spanish: non heterosexual Swedish: queer Tamil: குயர் Tamil: பால்புது Tamil: பால்புதுமை Turkish: kuir Turkish: queer Ukrainian: кві́рний
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