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Gender & Sexuality dictionary results for queer.

queer

American  

[kweer] / kwɪər /

adjective

queerer, comparative queerest superlative

1. strange or odd from a conventional viewpoint; unusually different; singular.

   The court has a queer notion of justice.

   Synonyms:

   weird, eccentric, freakish, curious, unconventional

   Antonyms:

   ordinary

2. 1. Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive. (of a person) gay or lesbian.

   2. noting or relating to a sexual orientation or gender identity that falls outside the heterosexual mainstream or the gender binary.

3. of a questionable nature or character; suspicious; shady.

   Something queer about the language of the prospectus kept investors away.

4. not feeling physically right or well; giddy, faint, or qualmish.

   If you feel queer, you should lie down for a bit.

5. mentally unbalanced or deranged.

6. Slang. bad, worthless, or counterfeit.

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verb (used with object)

1. to spoil; ruin.

2. to put (a person) in a hopeless or disadvantageous situation as to success, favor, etc.

3. to jeopardize.

4. to interpret, analyze, or reconstruct (a narrative) based on the perspectives of people whose experiences fall outside normative ideas of gender and sexuality, especially in academic research and criticism: Her pioneering research queered the portrayal of medical professionals by emphasizing the work of LGBTQ+ doctors.

   This film queers the Western genre by introducing a transgender lead.

   Her pioneering research queered the portrayal of medical professionals by emphasizing the work of LGBTQ+ doctors.

noun

queers plural

1. Often Disparaging and Offensive. (The noun “a queer” is often used with disparaging intent and considered offensive even among those who approve of the corresponding adjective “queer.” The plural “queers” is less likely to offend than the singular “a queer.”)

   1. a gay or lesbian person.

   2. a person whose sexual orientation or gender identity falls outside the heterosexual mainstream or the gender binary.

2. Slang. counterfeit money.

idioms

1. queer the pitch, to spoil the chances of success.

queer British  

/ kwɪə /

adjective

1. differing from the normal or usual in a way regarded as odd or strange

2. suspicious, dubious, or shady

3. faint, giddy, or queasy

4. informal homosexual

5. informal odd or unbalanced mentally; eccentric or slightly mad

6. slang worthless or counterfeit

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noun

1. informal a homosexual, usually a male

verb

1. to spoil or thwart (esp in the phrase queer someone's pitch )

2. to put in a difficult or dangerous position

Sensitive Note

Historically, queer has meant “strange” in a way that departs from convention. Since the early 20th century, it has also had the meaning “gay or lesbian,” and for much of the time has been used with disparaging intent and perceived as insulting. Since the 1980s, queer has increasingly been adopted especially among younger members of the gay and lesbian community as a positive term of self-reference. However, the term is not universally accepted within the LGBT community, and might still be viewed by some as degrading. Queer is also a term used by activists and academics: queer politics; scholars of queer literature. The term has more recently come to include any person whose sexuality or gender identity falls outside the heterosexual norm or the gender binary. A person identifying as queer can be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, genderqueer, gender-fluid, etc., and the use of queer allows for the expression of LGBTQ community membership without requiring any specific label. More broadly, within academia, “to queer” can even refer to the act of interpreting a text using any non-normative or marginalized perspective. This sense plays with the dual meaning of queer as referring to people whose genders and sexualities have been marginalized, and as referring to something that is unusual or unconventional. In this sense, introducing the perspectives of people of color or people with disabilities would also be considered queering a text in literary or cultural criticism.

Usage

What does queer mean? While queer has historically meant "strange" or "odd," the word is more often used as a slur against—but also since reclaimed as a self-identifier—for non-heterosexual or non-cisgender people. Content warning: this article contains offensive and sensitive content.

Synonym Usage

See strange.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• queerness
  noun
• queerish
  adjective
• queerly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• queers
  plural

Adjectives

• queerer
  comparative
• queerest
  superlative

Etymology

Origin of queer

First recorded in 1500–10; perhaps from German quer “oblique, cross, adverse”

Explanation

The adjective queer means "unusual" or "peculiar," or sometimes "suspicious." The main character in a creepy novel might decide to investigate the queer noises she hears coming from the attic in the middle of the night. Uh oh. Like many words, queer has many meanings. One is "odd," as in "I feel kind of queer today." In the 20th century, queer also began to be used as a slur for members of the LGBT community; although use of the word is still controversial today, it has been widely reclaimed as a positive or neutral term. Many universities have Queer Studies programs, for instance. As a verb, queer can mean "to endanger or expose to risk", and also "to hinder, thwart, foil, or baffle."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

queer queers queerer queerest

The club was loud, crowded and alive in the way only a queer room can be when the world outside has made everyone inside feel disposable.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026

When progressive political commentator Keith Edwards recently turned the New York City Pride March into a two-hour livestream of queer joy, he put a name on what he was doing.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026

Wentworth, who describes himself as "queer and disabled", has recently had a series of urological problems.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

"These characters happen to be queer and incredibly happy about it, living their lives in the way they want to," he adds.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

I remember hearing the sudden barking of the dogs and a lot of queer sounds, like praying on a very tumultuous scale, from Mr. Renfield’s room, which is somewhere under this.

From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker

“Our age difference plays really well into it,” says Miller of their and Bandrowski’s ability to draw both Gen Z and millennial queers to their events.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2024

“To the queers, to the Latin, to the immigrants, this is for you,” said Lacorazza, a Colombian American filmmaker whose film is set in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 26, 2024

They were lesbians, gays, queers, and gender-nonconforming people who had been the target of homophobic and transphobic speech and violence.

From Slate ● Sep. 26, 2023

An older bisexual character is something missing from television, where elder queers are few and far between.

From Salon ● Jan. 22, 2023

But cultural queers are good at overlooking things.

From The Night of the Long Knives by Finlay, Virgil

Gen Z and Gen Alpha are already telling us they’re queerer than the rest of us, with about a quarter of Gen Z identifying as LGBTQ+, according to recent polls.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2024

No wonder “Down With Love” has become something of a cult item, its meta-referential charms perhaps more apparent to a younger, queerer generation that better understands the role-playing nature of gender and romantic courtship.

From New York Times ● May 9, 2023

Mallory Ortberg: We’ve made it through another week, a little wiser, a little queerer.

From Slate ● Apr. 11, 2017

The room for diversity, for queerer set-ups, non-conformity and community could be squeezed out by normativity.

From BBC ● May 1, 2016

Plenty of people looked queerer than I did.

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath

LGBTQ+ people did not simply reflect the queerest century as it happened around them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2024

That’s one of the queerest books, in both the classic and the modern sense.

From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2023

Seattle is one of the queerest cities in America — more than one in 10 people identify as LGBTQ+, rivaling San Francisco, according to market research giant Nielsen.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2022

But having already been approached by fans of the show since her casting was announced, she's fully aware of how important the show is and describes its fans as "the nicest, queerest and queer-friendliest audience."

From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2022

Arya did not know who Bloody Mummers were until a fortnight later, when the queerest company of men she'd ever seen arrived at Harrenhal.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin