Queer
WordNet
adjective
(1) Beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
"A curious hybrid accent"
"Her speech has a funny twang"
"They have some funny ideas about war"
"Had an odd name"
"The peculiar aromatic odor of cloves"
"Something definitely queer about this town"
"What a rum fellow"
"Singular behavior"
(2) Homosexual or arousing homosexual desires
noun
(3) Offensive terms for an openly homosexual man
verb
(4) Put in a dangerous, disadvantageous, or difficult position
(5) Hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of
"What ultimately frustrated every challenger was Ruth's amazing September surge"
"Foil your opponent"
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From Scottish, perhaps from (Brunswick dialect) queer "oblique, off-center", related to German quer = "oblique, perverse, odd", from Old High German twerh = "oblique," from PIE stem *twerk- = "to turn, twist, wind" (related to thwart).
Adjective
- (somewhat old-fashioned) weird, odd or different.
- (somewhat old-fashioned) slightly unwell (mainly in to feel queer).
- homosexual.
- having to do with homosexuality, bisexuality, transgenderism etc.
Noun
- A person who is or appears homosexual, or who has homosexual qualities.
- A person of atypical sexuality or sexual identity.
Usage notes
- The use of this word to mean "homosexual" was formerly, and is often still, considered pejorative. However, in the way that all language is dynamic and pliable, the word is also sometimes now used (primarily as adjective) as a neutral or even positive descriptive term, including by some (primarily younger) homosexuals. In its pejorative use, it is applied almost solely to males. In its modern neutral use, it can be applied to all genders.
- Some GLBT youth now use the term as an "all-inclusive" term for the GLBTIQ (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, Intersex, Queer) etc. community.
- 'Queer' is also used as a positive term for people who reject mainstream-gay values and culture. People who identify with this version of queer distance themselves from the commercialisation and (relatively) conformist values of the gay mainstream and embrace fluid and unconstrained definitions of sexuality and gender. There is some common ground between this definition of queer and the punk and DIY scenes. See also "genderqueer".
- In the English dialect of the southern United States, the two senses of the adjective queer (homosexual and weird, odd, different, or unwell) are sometimes distinguished by pronunciation. Queer (homosexual) is pronounced (kwîr), queer (weird, odd, different, or unwell) is pronounced (kwär). This is generally considered old-fashioned and is only used when the word is emphasized, as in the phrase "that's awful queer" . The distinction is dying out as that latter sense of the word dies out.
Verb
- To render an endeavor or agreement ineffective or null.
- To reevaluate or reinterpret a work with an eye to sexual orientation and/or to gender, as by applying queer theory.