queer

Etymology
Attested since about 1510, at first in. Usually taken to be from (Brunswick dialect)  or the related 🇨🇬,  from, from , from , from ; compare 🇨🇬, and see more at. The OED argues against this due to the semantic differences and the date at which the word appears in Scots.

Began to be used to describe gay people in the late 1800s, see usage notes for more.

Adjective

 * , odd, or different; whimsical.
 * 1) * 1927,, “Possible Worlds” in Possible Worlds and Other Papers, London: Chatto & Windus,,
 * Now, my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.
 * 1)  Slightly unwell (mainly in "to feel queer").
 * 2)   or non-cisgender: homosexual, bisexual, asexual, transgender, etc.
 * 3)  Pertaining to sexual or gender behaviour or identity which does not conform to conventional heterosexual or cisgender norms, assumptions etc.
 * 1) * 1927,, “Possible Worlds” in Possible Worlds and Other Papers, London: Chatto & Windus,,
 * Now, my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.
 * 1)  Slightly unwell (mainly in "to feel queer").
 * 2)   or non-cisgender: homosexual, bisexual, asexual, transgender, etc.
 * 3)  Pertaining to sexual or gender behaviour or identity which does not conform to conventional heterosexual or cisgender norms, assumptions etc.
 * 1)  Slightly unwell (mainly in "to feel queer").
 * 2)   or non-cisgender: homosexual, bisexual, asexual, transgender, etc.
 * 3)  Pertaining to sexual or gender behaviour or identity which does not conform to conventional heterosexual or cisgender norms, assumptions etc.
 * 1)   or non-cisgender: homosexual, bisexual, asexual, transgender, etc.
 * 2)  Pertaining to sexual or gender behaviour or identity which does not conform to conventional heterosexual or cisgender norms, assumptions etc.
 * 1)   or non-cisgender: homosexual, bisexual, asexual, transgender, etc.
 * 2)  Pertaining to sexual or gender behaviour or identity which does not conform to conventional heterosexual or cisgender norms, assumptions etc.
 * 1)  Pertaining to sexual or gender behaviour or identity which does not conform to conventional heterosexual or cisgender norms, assumptions etc.

Usage notes

 * , in the sense of "gay" or "non-heterosexual", has gone in and out of use as a pejorative and as a self-identifier a number of times: it began to be used to describe gay people in the late 1800s (e.g. in an 1894 letter by ), and became more widespread in the US and became used as a self-identifier by American gay men by the 1910s, continuing into the 1950s, though by the 1940s younger ones considered it pejorative and preferred, which had been in use since the 1930s, and had come by the 1950s to encompass the whole LGBT community.   began to be reclaimed as a neutral or positive descriptor by the 1980s, at first most prominently by those who wanted to distinguish themselves from -identified people they felt had become too conservative and assimilationist. Some other people oppose the term as being still pejorative, or too radical, too informal, or too technical.  The pejorative applied mainly to those assigned male at birth who were perceived as homosexual or effeminate; the reclaimed term is used by people of any sex or gender. Sometimes, the word refers only to nonheterosexual people and sexuality (and thus, speakers may contrast e.g. "queer trans women" with "straight trans women"), while at other times the word includes noncisgender people and is analogous to .  (Compare .)
 * See also
 * The word is still in regular, everyday use in Ireland, England and Scotland in its original meaning of "strange", "weird" or "bad". Elsewhere, however, this usage has almost completely disappeared and is now likely to be misunderstood by those unaware of it. If used in a modern setting, it may even be seen as callous to LGBTQIA+ people.

Synonyms

 * genderfluid, non-binary, intergender
 * genderfluid, non-binary, intergender
 * genderfluid, non-binary, intergender
 * genderfluid, non-binary, intergender

Translations

 * Breton:
 * Bulgarian:, ,
 * Catalan:
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Dutch:, ,
 * Esperanto: stranga
 * Estonian: umbluu
 * Finnish: ,
 * French: ,
 * Friulian: stramp
 * Galician: rechamante, pelengrín, mapero
 * Georgian: უცნაური
 * German:
 * Hindi:, ,
 * Hungarian:
 * Italian: ,
 * Japanese:
 * Macedonian: чу́ден, нео́бичен
 * Polish: ,
 * Portuguese: ,
 * Russian:
 * Scottish Gaelic: neònach
 * Spanish: ,


 * Breton:
 * Bulgarian:
 * Dutch:, (to feel queer zich slecht in zijn vel voelen)
 * Finnish: ,
 * French: mal fichu (to feel queer se sentir mal fichu)
 * Galician: lacrarse, desazoarse,
 * German:
 * Italian: un po' male (to feel queer stare un po' male, poco bene)
 * Macedonian: нераспо́ложен
 * Spanish:
 * Ukrainian: захворі́лий


 * Bulgarian:
 * Catalan:
 * Danish:
 * Dutch: ,
 * Esperanto:,  gejaĉa,  pederasta
 * Finnish:,  ,
 * French: ,
 * Galician: mariqueiro, maricallo, conequé, lareiro, lariqueiro, cazolas
 * Georgian: ქვიარი
 * German:, , ,
 * Hungarian:
 * Icelandic: hinsegin
 * Indonesian:, , hombreng
 * Irish: aiteach
 * Italian:, , ,
 * Ladino: karucha, kulandrero, blando, kulampara, kulo alegre
 * Northern Sami: bonju
 * Norwegian:, ,
 * Polish:
 * Portuguese: ,
 * Russian: ,
 * Spanish:, , , julay, soplanucas, muerdealmohadas ,
 * Swedish:
 * Turkish:
 * Ukrainian: гомосексуа́льний, ґейський, лесбійський
 * Zazaki: nerimako


 * Arabic: كْوِير
 * Bulgarian:
 * Catalan:
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin: 酷儿, 酷兒
 * Danish: queer
 * Esperanto: ,
 * Finnish: ,
 * Georgian: ქვიარი
 * German:
 * Hebrew: קְוִּויר, קווירית
 * Hungarian:
 * Icelandic: hinsegin
 * Irish: aiteach
 * Japanese: クィア
 * Northern Sami: bonju
 * Norwegian:
 * Polish:
 * Portuguese:
 * Russian:
 * Spanish:, ,
 * Swedish:
 * Tamil: குயர், பால்புது, பால்புதுமை
 * Ukrainian:

Noun

 * 1)  A person who is or appears homosexual, or who has homosexual qualities.
 * 2)  A person of any non-heterosexual sexuality or sexual identity.
 * 3)  A person of any genderqueer identity.
 * 4)   money.
 * 1)  A person of any non-heterosexual sexuality or sexual identity.
 * 2)  A person of any genderqueer identity.
 * 3)   money.
 * 1)  A person of any non-heterosexual sexuality or sexual identity.
 * 2)  A person of any genderqueer identity.
 * 3)   money.
 * 1)   money.
 * 1)   money.

Usage notes

 * See the notes on the adjective (above) for more on the meaning of the term.
 * Regarding the use of the term as a noun, compare the usage notes about gay.

Translations

 * Dutch: ,
 * Finnish:,  , , kveeri
 * German: Queers
 * Hebrew: קְוִּויר
 * Tamil: குயர், பால்புதுமையினர்
 * Ukrainian: квір


 * Breton:,  ,
 * Bulgarian:, , ,
 * German:, ,
 * Hungarian:
 * Swedish: ,

Verb

 * 1)  To render an endeavor or agreement ineffective or null.
 * 2) * 1955, Rex Stout, "When a Man Murders...", in Three Witnesses, October 1994 Bantam edition, ISBN 0553249592, page 78:
 * I was a lot more apt to queer it than help it.
 * 1)  To puzzle.
 * 2) * 1894, Ivan Dexter, Talmud; A Strange Narrative of Central Australia, published in serial form in Port Adelaide News and Lefevre's Peninsula Advertiser (SA), Chapter V, :
 * "Where do you come from?" Stanley queered.
 * 1)  To ridicule; to banter; to rally.
 * 2)  To spoil the effect or success of, as by ridicule; to throw a wet blanket on; to spoil.
 * 3)  To reevaluate or reinterpret (a work) with an eye to sexual orientation and/or to gender, as by applying queer theory.
 * 4)  To make a work more appealing or attractive to LGBT people, such as by not having strict genders for playable characters.
 * 1)  To reevaluate or reinterpret (a work) with an eye to sexual orientation and/or to gender, as by applying queer theory.
 * 2)  To make a work more appealing or attractive to LGBT people, such as by not having strict genders for playable characters.
 * 1)  To reevaluate or reinterpret (a work) with an eye to sexual orientation and/or to gender, as by applying queer theory.
 * 2)  To make a work more appealing or attractive to LGBT people, such as by not having strict genders for playable characters.
 * 1)  To make a work more appealing or attractive to LGBT people, such as by not having strict genders for playable characters.
 * 1)  To make a work more appealing or attractive to LGBT people, such as by not having strict genders for playable characters.
 * 1)  To make a work more appealing or attractive to LGBT people, such as by not having strict genders for playable characters.
 * 1)  To make a work more appealing or attractive to LGBT people, such as by not having strict genders for playable characters.

Translations

 * Esperanto: kvirigi


 * Dutch: ,
 * French: ,
 * German:

Adverb

 * 1)  Very, extremely.
 * 1)  Very, extremely.

Translations

 * Czech: děsně
 * Finnish: ,
 * French: ,
 * Italian:
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish: ,

Etymology
.

Etymology
.

Adjective

 * 1)  not conforming to traditional sexuality

Etymology 1
.

Adjective

 * 1)  queer

Etymology
.

Noun

 * 1) queerness

Etymology
.