adjective / noun
queer
KWEER/kwɪr/
Relating to people or identities that are not heterosexual or cisgender.
The two women celebrate queer community together at the Pride gathering.
Etymology
Scots queer meant “strange” or “odd”; its later use for “homosexual” marks the shift from general difference to sexuality. The suggested ancestry in Low German “oblique, off-center” is disputed.
In context
and trans people of color and especially black trans women. - Different sections of community value and center different things, and so I think there's a lot of subsets within queer community
More examples
- She identifies as queer.
- The center offers support for queer students.
- The essay discusses how queer became a reclaimed identity term.
Forms
queer · queers
queerness noun — queer identity or experience
Similar words
- LGBTQ
- A related umbrella term whose exact scope varies by use.