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queerest - 2 dictionary results

queer

  [kweer] adjective, -er, -est, verb, noun
Use queerest in a Sentence
–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.
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. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To queerest
queer   (kwîr)   
adj.   queer·er, queer·est
  1. Deviating from the expected or normal; strange: a queer situation.
  2. Odd or unconventional, as in behavior; eccentric. See Synonyms at strange.
  3. Of a questionable nature or character; suspicious.
  4. Slang Fake; counterfeit.
  5. Feeling slightly ill; queasy.
  6. Offensive Slang Homosexual.
  7. Usage Problem Of or relating to lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, or transgendered people.
n.  
  1. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a homosexual person.
  2. Usage Problem A lesbian, gay male, bisexual, or transgendered person.
tr.v.   queered, queer·ing, queers Slang
  1. To ruin or thwart: "might try to queer the Games with anything from troop movements . . . to a bomb attack" (Newsweek).
  2. To put (someone) in a bad position.

[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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