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:
Earlier this year, the BBC announced it was dropping LGBTQ+ dating show I Kissed a Boy - which made history as the UK's first gay dating show - and I Kissed a Girl.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
The upside-down triangle was used to identify gay men in Nazi concentration camps.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
A new book to explore: Marlon James’ new book, The Disappearers, follows a group of gay men grappling with extreme homophobia in 1980s Jamaica.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
Around 16 or 17, I started to realize that maybe if you’re gay, you wouldn’t be invited to movies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
He would bring her the gifts real maidens love, little birds and gay flowers and the shining tears of amber Phaëthon’s sisters weep, and then dream that she thanked him with eager affection.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
But Gay has been batting in the hardest position at a time when all batters have struggled for runs.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
The Premier League does more; my friends who love Arsenal will not stop telling me about the Gay Gooners, the oldest queer supporters’ group in the sport, embraced by the club itself.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
Gay and Brook restored order in the evening sunshine and it already seems certain England will win before the weekend.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Despite his frustrations with “useless NFL gasbaggery,” Jason Gay breaks down why you should be excited about the season…unless you’re a Cleveland Browns or New York Jets fan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
When Gay told her that Mrs. Moss had kept my dolls and Easy-Bake oven, my mother said, “I never liked that woman!”
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
In the rhinestone-clad, quick-witted country music queen, many gays and lesbians saw an unexpected but unwavering ally that advocated for their dignity and rights long before it was popular to do so.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
As a show of gratitude to the girls and the gays, Os transforms from “Belladona” to Primadonna in vogue-ready house bangers like “Slay,” “Problemática,” and “Boom In Your Face.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2026
“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
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
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
But like just know that it will be gayer and gimpier than Season 1.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2019
Winter Olympics team was “darker, gayer, different” than in the past.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 19, 2018
With every headline I see, every surreptitious photo of the pair “cuddling up” on a hike or at the airport, I get a little gayer.
From Slate ● Sep. 13, 2018
Last of all Merry and Pippin said good-bye to the old Ent, and he grew gayer as he looked at them.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
That’s how we would describe Havana Rose Liu’s performance in Emma Seligman's gayest film yet “Bottoms.”
From Salon ● Dec. 31, 2023
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,” Jordan said in May 2008.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2022
“It’s like literally the gayest conversation I have ever had,” Aidan said.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 25, 2021
We returned to my father's house and I put on my gayest clothes and sang and danced before my father and pretended to for delighted with the marriage which he had prepared be me.
From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis
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.
