fag
1 Americannoun
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Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a gay man.
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Offensive. a contemptible or dislikable person.
verb (used with object)
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to tire or weary by labor; exhaust (often followed byout ).
The long climb fagged us out.
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British. to require (a younger public-school pupil) to do menial chores.
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Nautical. to fray or unlay the end of (a rope).
verb (used without object)
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Chiefly British. to work until wearied; work hard.
to fag away at French.
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British Informal. to do menial chores for an older public-school pupil.
noun
noun
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informal a boring or wearisome task
it's a fag having to walk all that way
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(esp formerly) a young public school boy who performs menial chores for an older boy or prefect
verb
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informal to become or cause to become exhausted by hard toil or work
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(usually intr) to do or cause to do menial chores in a public school
Brown fags for Lee
noun
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a slang word for cigarette
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a fag end, as of cloth
noun
Sensitive Note
The terms fag and faggot are both used with disparaging intent and are perceived as highly insulting. However, faggot (but not fag ) is sometimes used within the gay community as a positive term of self-reference.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fag1
An Americanism dating back to 1920–25; by shortening of faggot 1 ( def. )
Origin of fag2
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English fag(ge) “broken thread in cloth, a knot (in cloth), loose end” (further origin obscure); sense development apparently: “drooping end” to “droop, tire” to “make weary” to “drudgery, drudge” (compare flag 1 to flag 3 ); fag 2 ( def. 6 ) a shortening of fag end (“a butt,” hence a cigarette)
Explanation
Fag is mainly used as an offensive term for homosexuals. Although it has other meanings, you should probably avoid it at all costs. This is a very strong word that should be avoided in nearly all situations: fag (short for faggot) is a hateful slur against homosexuals. Because fag is such an offensive word, the other meanings are uncommon, but fagging has also meant working hard and getting tired, as in fagging out. A fag — especially in England — is also a cigarette, and in British boys’ schools, fags are servants for older boys.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The ICC cannot allow the championship to continue as if designed on the back of a fag packet.
From BBC • Apr. 22, 2025
But Labour said the "reannouncement" was just a "back of a fag packet plan".
From BBC • Feb. 25, 2024
“We had lesbians, fag hags, African-Americans. Most of the drag queens were Spanish. It was a very mixed,” said a man who goes only by the name Tree.
From Reuters • Jun. 17, 2019
I was born at the end of the 1970s, which means I am somewhat in a no man’s land, generationally – at the fag end of Gen X, too old to be a millennial.
From The Guardian • Feb. 16, 2019
We’d heard that the father was a bricklayer’s mate, and I suppose we were expecting some cheeky little chap with a fag stuck on his lower lip.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
