queerness

queer ► ADJECTIVE 1) strange; odd. 2) informal, derogatory (of a man) homosexual. 3) Brit. informal, dated slightly ill.

► NOUN informal, derogatory ▪ a homosexual man.

► VERB informal ▪ spoil or ruin.

● in Queer Street — Cf. ↑in Queer Street

● queer someone's pitch — Cf. ↑queer someone's pitch

DERIVATIVES queerish adjective queerly adverb queerness noun.

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.

ORIGIN perhaps from German quer 'oblique, perverse' .