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
-
The logic here is highly questionable — dying for your queen and dying by her hand are not equivalent sacrifices — but let’s blame Lorent’s lapse in judgment on the chaos of the moment.
-
Indeed, Femi is just that, even despite a questionable loss to Lesnar in their second match at Clash in Italy last month.
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
-
In this conflict, almost 4,000 people in Lebanon have been killed — a higher death toll than Iran’s — including 746 women, children and health workers; and more than triple that wounded.
-
The International Committee of the Red Cross said 2025 was the worst year for civilians in a decade, with more than 900 people killed or wounded by explosive devices.
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
-
Tornadoes are not uncommon in Streator, a small rural town about 100 miles southwest of Chicago.
-
Todd Sohn, chief ETF strategist at Strategas Securities, says the pattern is familiar, even if the scale is uncommon.
Cite this Entry
“Queer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/queer. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
