Dictionary.com

fag

1
[ fag ]
/ fæg /
See synonyms for fag on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), fagged, fag·ging.

verb (used without object), fagged, fag·ging.

Chiefly British. to work until wearied; work hard: to fag away at French.
British Informal. to do menial chores for an older public-school pupil.

noun

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Origin of fag

1
1425–75; late Middle English fagge broken thread in cloth, loose end (of obscure origin); sense development apparently: drooping end > to droop, tire > to make weary > drudgery, drudge (compare relationship of flag1 to flag3); (def. 6) a shortening of fag end (a butt, hence a cigarette)

OTHER WORDS FROM fag

un·fagged, adjective

Words nearby fag

Faeroes, Faeroese, faff, faffy, Fafnir, fag, fagaceous, fag end, Faggi, faggot, faggoting

Definition for fag (2 of 2)

fag2
[ fag ]
/ fæg /

usage alert about fag

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.

noun Slang.

Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a gay man.
Offensive. a contemptible or dislikable person.

Origin of fag

2
An Americanism dating back to 1920–25; by shortening of faggot1

OTHER WORDS FROM fag

fag·gish, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Words related to fag

smoke, dwindle, faint, wither, deteriorate, fail, suffer, rot, weaken, annoy, depress, dishearten, exasperate, dispirit, displease, jade, overwork, irritate, drain, irk

British Dictionary definitions for fag (1 of 3)

fag1
/ (fæɡ) /

noun

informal a boring or wearisome taskit's a fag having to walk all that way
British (esp formerly) a young public school boy who performs menial chores for an older boy or prefect

verb fags, fagging or fagged

(when tr, often foll by out) informal to become or cause to become exhausted by hard toil or work
(usually intr) British to do or cause to do menial chores in a public schoolBrown fags for Lee

Word Origin for fag

C18: of obscure origin

British Dictionary definitions for fag (2 of 3)

fag2
/ (fæɡ) /

noun

British a slang word for cigarette
a fag end, as of cloth

Word Origin for fag

C16 (in the sense: something hanging loose, flap): of obscure origin

British Dictionary definitions for fag (3 of 3)

fag3
/ (fæɡ) /

noun

slang, mainly US and Canadian short for faggot 2
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012