queerness


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queer

 (kwîr)
adj. queer·er, queer·est
1.
a. Deviating from what is expected or normal; strange: "The light above his head made a queer reflection of himself in the glowing wineglass" (Carson McCullers).
b. Odd or unconventional, as in behavior; eccentric: "His mother is very queer, with witchy hair and mismatched shoes" (Caroline Preston).
c. Of a questionable nature or character; suspicious: thought there was something queer about his explanation.
2.
a. Offensive Slang Gay or lesbian.
b. Usage Problem Of or relating to lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, or transgender people.
3. Feeling slightly ill, as in being dizzy or queasy.
n.
1. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a gay man or a lesbian.
2. Usage Problem A lesbian, gay male, bisexual, or transgender person.
tr.v. queered, queer·ing, queers Slang
To ruin or thwart: "might try to queer the Games with anything from troop movements ... to a bomb attack" (Newsweek).

[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 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 transgender 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 caution must be taken with their use when one is not a member of the group.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.queerness - a strange attitude or habit
strangeness, unfamiliarity - unusualness as a consequence of not being well known
2.queerness - a sexual attraction to (or sexual relations with) persons of the same sex
sex activity, sexual activity, sexual practice - activities associated with sexual intercourse; "they had sex in the back seat"
sexual inversion, inversion - a term formerly used to mean taking on the gender role of the opposite sex
lesbianism, sapphism - female homosexuality
paederasty, pederasty - sexual relations between a man and a boy (usually anal intercourse with the boy as a passive partner)
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
غَرابَه
zvláštnost
løjerlighed
undarlegheit
acayipliktuhaflık

queerness

[ˈkwɪənɪs] N (= oddness) → lo raro, lo extraño
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

queerness

n
(pej inf: = homosexuality) → Schwulheit f (inf)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

queerness

[ˈkwɪənɪs] nstranezza
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

queer

(kwiə) adjective
1. odd, strange or unusual. queer behaviour; queer noises in the middle of the night.
2. sick; unwell. I do feel a bit queer – perhaps I ate too many oysters.
3. (slang) homosexual.
noun
a homosexual.
ˈqueerly adverb
ˈqueerness noun
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
For if it occurred to me that I might occasionally excite suspicion by the little outbreaks of my sharper passion for them, so too I remember wondering if I mightn't see a queerness in the traceable increase of their own demonstrations.
From that my thoughts went to the indefinable queerness of the deformed man on the beach.
"The queerness doesn't matter so long as they're friends," was the answer.
I reasoned something like this: It is a queerness of these people that they like this vile-tasting wine.
At first he thought o' little, I daresay, but the queerness and the fun."
Next, Daylight surmised that he might be touched with religion; but, quest about as he would, in a conversation covering the most divergent topics, he could find no hint of queerness or unusualness.
And so they all say it, knowing men and the queerness of men's love the way they think they do.
Certain simple principles had been instilled into him so anxiously (on account of his "queerness") that the mere names of certain transgressions filled him with horror.
Did he not repre- sent public opinion and had not the public opinion of Winesburg condemned the Cowleys to queerness? Did he not walk whistling and laughing through Main Street?
Silas had never before been closely urged on the point of his absence from church, which had only been thought of as a part of his general queerness; and he was too direct and simple to evade Dolly's appeal.
The wood, then," said Lucy, startled at his queerness, but pretty sure that he would explain later; it was not his habit to leave her in doubt as to his meaning.
She was next overcome by the unspeakable queerness of the fact that she should be sitting in an arm-chair, in the morning, in the middle of the world.