queer
Americanadjective
-
queerer,
comparative
-
queerest
superlative
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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
-
-
Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive. (of a person) gay or lesbian.
-
noting or relating to a sexual orientation or gender identity that falls outside the heterosexual mainstream or the gender binary.
-
-
of a questionable nature or character; suspicious; shady.
Something queer about the language of the prospectus kept investors away.
-
not feeling physically right or well; giddy, faint, or qualmish.
If you feel queer, you should lie down for a bit.
-
mentally unbalanced or deranged.
-
Slang. bad, worthless, or counterfeit.
verb (used with object)
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to put (a person) in a hopeless or disadvantageous situation as to success, favor, etc.
-
to jeopardize.
-
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
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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.”)
-
a gay or lesbian person.
-
a person whose sexual orientation or gender identity falls outside the heterosexual mainstream or the gender binary.
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-
Slang. counterfeit money.
idioms
adjective
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differing from the normal or usual in a way regarded as odd or strange
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suspicious, dubious, or shady
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faint, giddy, or queasy
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informal homosexual
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informal odd or unbalanced mentally; eccentric or slightly mad
-
slang worthless or counterfeit
noun
verb
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to spoil or thwart (esp in the phrase queer someone's pitch )
-
to put in a difficult or dangerous position
Sensitive Note
When referring to LGBT+ identities, the label queer can be offensive and painful or embraced and affirming—it all depends on the speaker’s identity, relationship to the subject, and the context of use. In-group vocabulary is not always appropriate for use by others, and it is best to refer to a person by whatever term they have told you they prefer.
Sensitivity
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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
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."
Vocabulary lists containing queer
Scrabble: Words that Begin with Q
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"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"
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Vocabulary from poems by Robert Frost
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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:
She realized the potential two years ago, when she invited a queer pub from New York to co-host an event.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, collectively known as "Los Javis," have wowed critics and filmgoers with their sweeping queer epic telling the interconnected stories of three gay men over multiple generations.
From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026
Since Cisternas and Espinoza threw their first neoperreo party 10 years ago, their legacy has carried over to popular Boiler Room sets and underground queer sanctuaries in equal measure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
So where are the out, unapologetic queer candidates?
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2026
He would look thin, queer, like people in hospital....
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
“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
“My aim,” Otero writes in the intro, “is to portray queers of color as makers of history.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2023
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
"It queers me how you can speak so light of it."
From Joanna Godden by Sheila Kaye-Smith
The future is queerer than ever, with young people identifying as LGBTQ+ more than before.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2024
She echoes many of Colón’s points of view when asked if she thinks the island is queerer post–Hurricane Maria.
From Slate ● Apr. 17, 2019
Everyone who works with us has gotten queerer and queerer in the past six years.
From New York Times ● Jan. 3, 2019
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
How incredible because Nervous Gender was the queerest band in town, three gay men with incredibly different visions than I had.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 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
Transfused with what Mohabir calls in his author’s note, “the queerest magic” of his Aji’s songs, it’s an incomparable, hybrid account of self and family that defies expectations.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 6, 2021
The stags were the queerest to watch, for of course the antlers came up a long time before the rest of them, so at First Digory thought they were trees.
From "The Magician's Nephew" by C. S. Lewis
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
