gay
gay
1 American
[gey]
/ geɪ /
adjective
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gayer,
comparative
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gayest
superlative
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of, relating to, or being a person who is sexually or romantically attracted to people of their own sex or gender.
A gay couple strolled by on the boardwalk.
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of, relating to, or being a person who is sexually or romantically attracted only to people of their own sex or gender.
Gay and bisexual men are both discussed in this study.
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of, indicating, or supporting interests or issues pertaining to gay people or the gay community.
He gives charitable contributions to a gay organization.
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Older Use. having or showing a merry, lively mood: gay music.
gay spirits;
gay music.
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Older Use. bright or showy: gay ornaments.
gay colors;
gay ornaments.
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Obsolete.
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(used especially of women and especially in poetry) beautiful, lofty, noble, or excellent.
The learned man hath got the lady gay.
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excellent; topnotch.
a gay and lofty mind.
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Older Use. given to or abounding in social or other pleasures: the Gay Nineties.
a gay social season;
the Gay Nineties.
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Older Use. sexually unrestrained; having loose morals.
In the 1930s movie, the baron is referred to as “a gay old rogue with an eye for the ladies.”
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Slang: Older Use. inappropriately forward or bold; overly familiar; reckless.
George got gay at the Christmas party and suddenly swept his boss's wife onto the dance floor.
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Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. awkward, stupid, or bad.
noun
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gays
plural
adverb
Gay
2
American
[gey]
/ geɪ /
noun
-
John, 1685–1732, English poet and dramatist.
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a female or male given name.
gay
1
British
/ ɡeɪ /
adjective
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homosexual
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of or for homosexuals
a gay club
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carefree and merry
a gay temperament
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brightly coloured; brilliant
a gay hat
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given to pleasure, esp in social entertainment
a gay life
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noun
Gay
2
British
/ ɡeɪ /
noun
gay
Cultural
Sensitive Note
The sexual orientation meaning of the word gay has become so predominant that people hesitate to use the term in its original senses of “merry, lively” and “bright or showy.” But the word's association with sexuality is not new. The word gay has had various senses dealing with sexual conduct since the 17th century. A gay woman was a prostitute, a gay man a womanizer, a gay house a brothel. This sexual world included gay men too, and gay as an adjective in the sexual meaning goes back at least to the late 1930s. After World War II, as social attitudes toward sexuality began to change, gay was applied openly by gay men to themselves, first as an adjective and later as a noun. It is no longer considered slang. Today, the noun often designates only gay men and is usually used as a collective plural: gays and lesbians. How do gays feel about this? But usage as a singular noun is usually perceived as insulting. It has been argued that gay in the sense “awkward, stupid, or bad” is independent of the sexual sense, and therefore not homophobic. This argument is weakened by the fact that the sexual meaning has long been the dominant one, and thus permeates all usages of gay. See also homosexual .
Usage
Words like gay and lesbian are often used as umbrella terms describing anyone who experiences same-gender attraction, and also as more specific labels. Umbrella usage, as in gay marriage or lesbian couple, typically refers to any same-gender pairing, or to any person who is attracted to people of their own gender. Gay itself can also be used as an even more general term describing people of all genders who are attracted to their own gender. As more specific labels, gay and lesbian often mean exclusive attraction to the same gender, and may be used in contrast with terms like bisexual. And gay can also be used to refer to only men who are attracted to men (exclusively or not), in contrast to lesbian, which only refers to women. Other terms, such as sapphic for women, are sometimes used to be unambiguously inclusive of people attracted to multiple genders.
Gayness is the word used to refer to homosexuality. The noun which refers to being carefree and merry is gaiety
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of gay
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English gai, from Old French “happy, cheerful,” from Germanic; compare Old High German gāhi “fast, sudden”
Explanation
Gay is a word with many meanings. A gay person is homosexual, but if we describe something like a scene or a party as gay, that means it's bright, merry, and happy. Gay originally meant excited, festive and merry. Skipping down the street is something you'd do in a gay mood. A fun dinner party could be described as full of laughter and gaiety. Gay really only came to mean homosexual in the last century. The fight for gay rights doesn’t mean a fight for the right to be festive, it means a fight against discrimination.
Vocabulary lists containing gay
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.
See Examples For:
He was the first openly gay state senator in Michigan history and has risen into legislative leadership during his decade of service in Lansing.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
Piercing artist Adam Teague, 44, is a gay, heavily-tattooed Democrat working in downtown Kingsport.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Supporters argue the bar is an irreplaceable cultural institution and a safe place for Spanish-speaking gay Latinos, transgender Latinas and working-class immigrants.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
The jersey belonged to Carl Nassib, who in 2021 became the league’s “first openly gay player to take the field in a regular-season game.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
“The Renegades are no longer saying ‘that’s gay.’
From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner
In 2024, Gay resigned as the school’s president, although she remains on the faculty.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
Fall activities are just around the corner, so Jason Gay is celebrating the youth sports parents—those who don’t resort to screaming at teen refs or fistfighting in the parking lot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
Pakistan were at risk of being overwhelmed when Duckett and Gay made a Bazball-style start to England's reply.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Plus, more details on a law firm’s Michigan investigation, a cartoonishly large glove for a former pitching phenom and Jason Gay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
I asked Gay without looking directly at her.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
“Once you find your gaggle of gays, you want to keep up with them.”
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 9, 2026
"But so much attention to female fandom... risks overshadowing what a bountiful gift Heated Rivalry is to the gays," wrote David Rooney in the Hollywood Reporter.
From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2026
“There’s a ‘Don’t be ungrateful’ tone especially aimed at gays who never knew a gay world before gender ideology took over,” Arango explained.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
Charli, for her part, is no longer a secret for pop girlies, gays and theys.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2024
Eventually I lose myself a little in his life, dancing along with Austin, William, Nicolas, and a few hundred other gays and lesbians when the parade organizers blast the Village People’s “In the Navy.”
From "Every Day" by David Levithan
“If you like ‘Love & Basketball’ and ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ and ‘Bring It On’ but you found yourself wondering, ‘Could this maybe be a little bit gayer?’
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026
Hot To Go, which she's described as "YMCA, but gayer", came with big goofy dance moves; and Red Wine Supernovas's singalong chorus gave me actual goosebumps.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2024
In Greek Pride, queer students carved out a gayer, more comfortable existence within a traditional system.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 22, 2022
One third of my old Brit pals call me Gerbil, another third calls me Pixie, and a third, gayer group goes for alliteration with Dottie Doonan.
From Slate ● Jun. 2, 2014
“In Lit class I’m going to write you a sonnet about how nothing could possibly be gayer than writing your friend a haiku.”
From "Winger" by Andrew Smith
One of the most talked-about shows streaming right now also happens to be one of the gayest shows streaming right now.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 20, 2023
“I am, without a doubt, the gayest man I know,” he told The Times in May 2008.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 19, 2023
But a redrawn political map in the state has reshaped his district this year, adding Palm Springs, a liberal bastion that residents proclaim to be the gayest city in America.
From New York Times ● Sep. 3, 2022
The music video for the song is, as PinkNews puts it: "literally the gayest thing on earth."
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2022
It's basically Tiny's slightly fictionalized life story, except it is sung, and it is—I mean, I don't use this adjective lightly—the gayest single musical in all of human history.
From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan
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.
