QUEER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does queer mean? 

• QUEER (noun)
  The noun QUEER has 1 sense:

1. offensive term for a homosexual man

  Familiarity information: QUEER used as a noun is very rare.

• QUEER (adjective)
  The adjective QUEER has 2 senses:

1. beyond or deviating from the usual or expected

2. homosexual or arousing homosexual desires

  Familiarity information: QUEER used as an adjective is rare.

• QUEER (verb)
  The verb QUEER has 2 senses:

1. hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of

2. put in a dangerous, disadvantageous, or difficult position

  Familiarity information: QUEER used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• QUEER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Offensive term for a homosexual man

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

fag; faggot; fagot; fairy; nance; pansy; poof; poove; pouf; queen; queer

Hypernyms ("queer" is a kind of...):

gay; homo; homophile; homosexual (someone who is sexually attracted to persons of the same sex)

Domain usage:

depreciation; derogation; disparagement (a communication that belittles somebody or something)

• QUEER (adjective)

Comparative: queerer   
Superlative: queerest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Beyond or deviating from the usual or expected

Synonyms:

curious; funny; odd; peculiar; queer; rum; rummy; singular

Context example:

singular behavior

Similar:

strange; unusual (being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird)

Derivation:

queerness (a strange attitude or habit)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Homosexual or arousing homosexual desires

Synonyms:

gay; homophile; queer

Similar:

homosexual (sexually attracted to members of your own sex)

Derivation:

queerness (a sexual attraction to (or sexual relations with) persons of the same sex)

• QUEER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they queer    ... he / she / it queers   
Past simple: queered   
Past participle: queered   
-ing form: queering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

baffle; bilk; cross; foil; frustrate; queer; scotch; spoil; thwart

Context example:

foil your opponent

Hypernyms (to "queer" is one way to...):

forbid; foreclose; forestall; preclude; prevent (keep from happening or arising; make impossible)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "queer"):

disappoint; let down (fail to meet the hopes or expectations of)

dash (destroy or break)

short-circuit (hamper the progress of; impede)

ruin (destroy or cause to fail)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Put in a dangerous, disadvantageous, or difficult position

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

endanger; expose; peril; queer; scupper

Hypernyms (to "queer" is one way to...):

affect; bear on; bear upon; impact; touch; touch on (have an effect upon)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "queer"):

compromise (expose or make liable to danger, suspicion, or disrepute)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

 Context examples 

Yes, it was a queer thing to do.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It's a very queer thing for her to do, she doesn't act a bit like herself.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

While she stood looking eagerly at the strange and beautiful sights, she noticed coming toward her a group of the queerest people she had ever seen.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

I remember hearing the sudden barking of the dogs and a lot of queer sounds, like praying on a very tumultuous scale, from Mr. Renfield's room, which is somewhere under this.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Well, now I come to the queer part of my story.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Because you're such a queer, frightened, shy little thing.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

But I will tell you the whole queer business, and when I have done so you will admit, I am sure, that there has been enough to excuse me.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The woman was beckoning him from the chaise, and he staring up at her with the queerest expression upon his face.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Now do not make yourself uneasy with any queer fancies because he has been spending a few days at Richmond.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Even Ben Gunn himself has admitted that she was “queer to handle till you knew her way.”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)