queer

CEFRC1

/kwɪə/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Relating to people whose sexuality or gender differs from traditional norms.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Strange or unusual; an older informal use.

Examples

  • He had a queer expression on his face.

  • He is really a queer fellow!

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /kwiə̯/
  • /kwɪr/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Non-heterosexual or non-cisgender: homosexual, bisexual, asexual, transgender, etc.

  2. Pertaining to sexual or gender behaviour or identity which does not conform to conventional heterosexual or cisgender norms, assumptions etc.

  3. Strange, odd, or different; whimsical.

More examples

In context

  • I felt queer after eating those shrimp.

  • What a queer story!

  • 1927, J. B. S. Haldane, “Possible Worlds” in Possible Worlds and Other Papers, London: Chatto & Windus, Now, my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.

Synonyms

Quick test

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The old mansion had a blank smell coming from the basement, unlike anything normal.

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Nearby

Origin

adjective

Attested since about 1510, at first in Scots. Usually taken to be from Middle Low German (Brunswick dialect) queer (“oblique, off-center”) or the related German quer (“diagonal”), from Old Saxon thwerh, from Proto-West Germanic *þwerh, from Proto-Germanic *þwerhaz, from Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to turn, twist, wind”); compare Latin torqueō, and see more at thwart. The OED argues against this due to the semantic differences and the date at which the word appears in Scots. Began to be used to describe gay people in the late 1800s; see usage notes for more.