adj.
- strange; odd.
▸Brit. informal, dated slightly ill.
- informal, derogatory (of a man) homosexual.
n.
informal, derogatory a homosexual man.
v.
informal spoil or ruin.
Phrase
- in Queer Street
Brit. informal, dated in difficulty or debt. - queer someone's pitch
Brit. spoil someone's plans or chances of doing something.
Derivative
- queerish adj.
- queerly adv.
- queerness n.
Usage
The word queer was first used to mean ‘homosexual’ in the early 20th century: it was originally, and usually still is, a deliberately derogatory term when used by heterosexual people. In recent years, however, gay people have taken the word queer and deliberately used it in place of gay or homosexual, in an attempt, by using the word positively, to deprive it of its negative power.
Etymology
C16: considered to be from Ger. quer ‘oblique, perverse’, but the origin is doubtful.
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