- Deviating from the expected or normal; strange: a queer situation.
- Odd or unconventional, as in behavior; eccentric. See synonyms at strange.
- Of a questionable nature or character; suspicious.
- Slang. Fake; counterfeit.
- Feeling slightly ill; queasy.
- Offensive Slang. Homosexual.
- Usage Problem. Of or relating to lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, or transgendered people.
- Offensive Slang. Used as a disparaging term for a homosexual person.
- Usage Problem. A lesbian, gay male, bisexual, or transgendered person.
- To ruin or thwart: “might try to queer the Games with anything from troop movements . . . to a bomb attack” (Newsweek).
- To put (someone) in a bad position.
[Perhaps from Low German, oblique, off-center, from Middle Low German dwer.]
queerish queer'ish adj.queerly queer'ly adv.
queerness queer'ness n.
USAGE NOTE A reclaimed word is a word that was formerly used solely as a slur but that has been semantically overturned by members of the maligned group, who use it as a term of defiant pride. Queer is an example of a word undergoing this process. For decades queer was used solely as a derogatory adjective for gays and lesbians, but in the 1980s the term began to be used by gay and lesbian activists as a term of self-identification. Eventually, it came to be used as an umbrella term that included gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered people. Nevertheless, a sizable percentage of people to whom this term might apply still hold queer to be a hateful insult, and its use by heterosexuals is often considered offensive. Similarly, other reclaimed words are usually offensive to the in-group when used by outsiders, so extreme caution must be taken concerning their use when one is not a member of the group.
