LGBT+
or LGBTQ+
Save This Word!
adjective
pertaining collectively to people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, and to people with gender expressions outside traditional norms, including nonbinary, intersex, and other queer people (and those questioning their gender identity or sexual orientation), along with their allies.
QUIZ
THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
Question 1 of 7
In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…
Also LGBTQI+, LGBTQIA+ . Sometimes GLBT+, GLBTQ+, GLBTQI+, GLBTQIA+ .
Origin of LGBT+
First recorded in 2010–15
historical usage of LGBT+
Adding the plus sign to the initialisms of identity labels used by nonheterosexual or noncisgender people is a way to make any of these abbreviations inclusive of LGBTQIA identities not specified in the spelling. The spelling LGBT+ includes people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans, but implies with the plus sign that queer, questioning, intersex, asexual people, and others who are not specifically identified are included as well. The plus sign may also embrace heterosexual or cisgender people who are allies and therefore part of the larger gay and trans community.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023