Gay Defn & Meang - Merriam-Webster

Contents:

• GAY
• GAY
• WHAT DO IT MEAN TO BE GAY? DEFN AND MEANG OF GAY
• GAY (ADJ.)
• MEANG OF GAY ENGLISH
• QUEER VS. GAY: HOW THE WORDS ARE DIFFERENT, AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
• GAY

GAY

See synonyms for gay on Ths. Adjective, gay·er, gay·, relatg to, or beg a person who is sexually or romantilly attracted to people of their own sex or genr: A gay uple strolled by on the, relatg to, or beg a person who is sexually or romantilly attracted only to people of their own sex or genr: Gay and bisexual men are both discsed this, ditg, or supportg terts or issu pertag to gay people or the gay muny: He giv charable ntributns to a gay anizatn. Havg or showg a merry, lively mood: gay spirs; gay Use.

GAY

Bright or showy: gay lors; gay ornaments. (ed pecially of women and pecially poetry) betiful, lofty, noble, or excellent: The learned man hath got the lady gay. Excellent; topnotch: a gay and lofty md.

Given to or aboundg social or other pleasur: a gay social season; the Gay Use.

WHAT DO IT MEAN TO BE GAY? DEFN AND MEANG OF GAY

Sexually unrtraed; havg loose morals: In the 1930s movie, the baron is referred to as “a gay old rogue wh an eye for the ladi. Appropriately forward or bold; overly faiar; reckls: Gee got gay at the Christmas party and sudnly swept his boss's wife onto the dance floor. A person, pecially a man, who is sexually or romantilly attracted exclively to people of the same sex or of gay1First rerd 1275–1325; Middle English gai, om Old French “happy, cheerful, ” om Germanic; pare Old High German gāhi “fast, sudn”age alert For gayThe sexual orientatn meang of the word gay has bee so predomant that people hate to e the term s origal sens of “merry, lively” and “bright or showy.

GAY (ADJ.)

The word gay has had var sens alg wh sexual nduct sce the 17th century. A gay woman was a prostute, a gay man a womanizer, a gay hoe a brothel.

MEANG OF GAY ENGLISH

This sexual world clud gay men too, and gay as an adjective the sexual meang go back at least to the late 1930s.

After World War II, as social attus toward sexualy began to change, gay was applied openly by gay men to themselv, first as an adjective and later as a noun. Today, the noun often signat only gay men and is ually ed as a llective plural: gays and lbians. How do gays feel about this?

QUEER VS. GAY: HOW THE WORDS ARE DIFFERENT, AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

It has been argued that gay the sense “awkward, stupid, or bad” is pennt of the sexual sense, and therefore not homophobic. This argument is weakened by the fact that the sexual meang has long been the domant one, and th permeat all ag of gay. See also homosexual.

Age note For gayWords like gay and lbian are often ed as umbrella terms scribg anyone who experienc same-genr attractn, and also as more specific labels. Umbrella age, as gay marriage or lbian uple, typilly refers to any same-genr pairg, or to any person who is attracted to people of their own genr. Gay self n also be ed as an even more general term scribg people of all genrs who are attracted to their own genr.

GAY

As more specific labels, gay and lbian often mean exclive attractn to the same genr, and may be ed ntrast wh terms like bisexual. And gay n also be ed to refer to only men who are attracted to men (exclively or not), ntrast to lbian, which only refers to women. Other words om gaygay·ns, nounnon·gay, adjectiveWords Nearby gaygawkgawkygawpGawragawsygayGayagayalGaya MaretangayatrigaydarOther fns for Gay (2 of 2)nounJohn, 1685–1732, English poet and dramatist.