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queer - 6 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.
|
| 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
—Idiom| 10. | Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a homosexual, esp. a male homosexual. |
| 11. | Slang. counterfeit money. |
| 12. | queer the pitch, British Informal. to spoil the chances of success. |
Origin:
1500–10; perh. < G quer oblique, cross, adverse
1500–10; perh. < G quer oblique, cross, adverse

Related forms:
queerly, adverb
queerness, noun
Antonyms:
1. ordinary.
1. ordinary.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To queer
queer (kwîr) adj. queer·er, queer·est
[Perhaps from Low German, oblique, off-center, from Middle Low German dwer; see terkw- in Indo-European roots.] queer'ish adj., queer'ly adv., 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. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Queer
Queer\, v. t. [From Queer, a.]1. To puzzle. [Prov. Eng. or Slang] 2. To ridicule; to banter; to rally. [Slang] 3. To spoil the effect or success of, as by ridicule; to throw a wet blanket on; to spoil. [Slang]Queer
Queer\, a. [Compar. Queerer; superl. Queerest.] [G. quer cross, oblique, athwart (cf. querkopf a queer fellow), OHG. twer, twerh, dwerah; akin to D. dvars, AS, [thorn]weorh thwart, bent, twisted, Icel. [thorn]verr thwart, transverse, Goth. [thorn]wa[`i]rhs angry, and perh. to L. torqyere to twist, and E. through. Cf. Torture, Through, Thwart, a.]1. At variance with what is usual or normal; differing in some odd way from what is ordinary; odd; singular; strange; whimsical; as, a queer story or act. " A queer look." --W. Irving. 2. Mysterious; suspicious; questionable; as, a queer transaction. [Colloq.]Queer
Queer\, n. Counterfeit money. [Slang] To shove the queer, to put counterfeit money in circulation. [Slang]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : queer
Spanish:
extraño; excéntrico; raro,
German:
sonderbar,
Japanese:
妙な
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, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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