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queer

 - 4 dictionary results

queer

   [kweer] adjective,-er, -est, verb, noun
–adjective
1.
strange or odd from a conventional viewpoint; unusually different; singular: a queer notion of justice.
2.
of a questionable nature or character; suspicious; shady: Something queer about the language of the prospectus kept investors away.
3.
not feeling physically right or well; giddy, faint, or qualmish: to feel queer.
4.
mentally unbalanced or deranged.
5.
Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.
a.
homosexual.
b.
effeminate; unmanly.
6.
Slang. bad, worthless, or counterfeit.
–verb (used with object)
7.
to spoil; ruin.
8.
to put (a person) in a hopeless or disadvantageous situation as to success, favor, etc.
9.
to jeopardize.
–noun
10.
Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a homosexual, esp. a male homosexual.
11.
Slang. counterfeit money.
—Idiom
12.
queer the pitch, British Informal. to spoil the chances of success.
Use queer in a Sentence
Origin:
1500–10; perh. < G quer oblique, cross, adverse

—Related forms
queerly, adverb
queerness, noun

—Synonyms
1. unconventional, curious, freakish, eccentric, weird. See strange.

—Antonyms
1. ordinary.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To queer
World English Dictionary
queer (kwɪə) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—adj
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, taboo homosexual
5.  informal odd or unbalanced mentally; eccentric or slightly mad
6.  slang worthless or counterfeit
 
—n
7.  informal, taboo a homosexual, usually a male
 
—vb
8.  to spoil or thwart (esp in the phrase queer someone's pitch)
9.  to put in a difficult or dangerous position
 
[C16: perhaps from German quer oblique, ultimately from Old High German twērh]
 
usage  Although the term queer meaning homosexual is still considered highly offensive when used by non-homosexuals, it is often used by homosexuals themselves as a positive term, as in queer politics, queer cinema
 
'queerish
 
—adj
 
'queerly
 
—adv
 
'queerness
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Word Origin & History

queer
1508, "strange, peculiar, eccentric," from Scottish, perhaps from Low Ger. (Brunswick dialect) queer "oblique, off-center," related to Ger. quer "oblique, perverse, odd," from O.H.G. twerh "oblique," from PIE base *twerk- "to turn, twist, wind" (related to thwart). The verb "to spoil, ruin" is first recorded 1812. Sense of "homosexual" first recorded 1922; the noun in this sense is 1935, from the adj.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

queer definition


  1. mod.
    counterfeit. : I don't want any queer money.
  2. n.
    illicit liquor, especially whiskey. (Prohibition era.) : This isn't queer; it's left over from before prohibition.
  3. mod.
    alcohol intoxicated. :
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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