1
as in strange
different from the ordinary in a way that causes curiosity or suspicion
one competitor had a queer way of running that attracted a lot of attention from the spectators
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in unusual
noticeably different from what is generally found or experienced
a lot of queer things started happening almost from the day that we moved into the house
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
4
as in questionable
giving good reason for being doubted, questioned, or challenged
queer business practices that bear some looking into
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to humble
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
2
as in to gum (up)
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of queer
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
12 Aug. 2025
Was this his way of queering e-commerce, subverting the platform from within?
—
Oscar Schwartz,
The New Yorker,
27 Nov. 2024
Fish lesbians often queered feminine aesthetics, warping heteronormative and cisnormative expectations of gender to play with them in more imaginative ways.
—
Quispe López,
Them,
1 Aug. 2024
Almodóvar’s gaze is more like a series of fun house mirrors here, passing through classic dime-store-novel narrative, the macho-man canon of midcentury Technicolor westerns and the winky camp of queering it all in circa-2023 couture.
—
Leah Greenblatt,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2023
Verb
These films have always carried rich undercurrents: the corporate exploitation of blue-collar workers (the Nostromo crew, the marines in Aliens, the kids of Romulus), queered reproduction via body horror, Ripley’s evolving incarnations of motherhood, human hubris punished by its own creations.
—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
12 Aug. 2025
Was this his way of queering e-commerce, subverting the platform from within?
—
Oscar Schwartz,
The New Yorker,
27 Nov. 2024
Fish lesbians often queered feminine aesthetics, warping heteronormative and cisnormative expectations of gender to play with them in more imaginative ways.
—
Quispe López,
Them,
1 Aug. 2024
Almodóvar’s gaze is more like a series of fun house mirrors here, passing through classic dime-store-novel narrative, the macho-man canon of midcentury Technicolor westerns and the winky camp of queering it all in circa-2023 couture.
—
Leah Greenblatt,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for queer
Adjective
-
Informal Beyblade battles are popping up in strangest of places, with players huddling in parks, gyms and shopping malls.
-
The falseness of the medium, though, jibed with the falseness of most attempts, throughout American history, to make sense of this enormous, strange man.
Adjective
-
What Trump is doing is unusual.
-
Heat domes are not unusual, but the temperatures in this one have been.
Adjective
-
Having a sick pet is emotionally a lot to handle.
-
Preventing infestation Just because one calf is sick doesn’t mean the entire herd will get it, Cammack said.
Adjective
-
And the audio and video recording of women is a questionable feature of every camp – even if the men here don’t see it that way.
-
And the majority of students who require calculus for their eventual major end up retaking the introductory college course anyway—suggesting that the high school rush to calculus provides questionable academic benefit for most who undertake it.
Verb
-
On that stage, the Americans are routinely humbled.
-
Janve, who centers his work in mountain landscapes, spoke at a press meeting about nature in the film functioning as a mirror that flatters and humbles its human subjects simultaneously.
Verb
-
One person was killed and another was wounded during a shooting in an unincorporated part of Riverside County on Sunday.
-
These two stood ready to wound the pigs as soon as Red Beard was done saying goodbye.
Adjective
-
This scene is funny as well as poignant because Albert was played by the late Rob Reiner.
-
But while there are occasionally funny moments, these movies are emblematic of the dumbing down of America.
Adjective
-
On June 23, 2026, though, the majority delivered an uncommon defeat in this contentious area.
-
His distaste for the wealthy is not an uncommon feeling in the country, his defense argued.
Cite this Entry
“Queer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/queer. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
