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
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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
-
The truck had been at the head of a column of seven rescue vehicles, all of which had received clearance from the tower to cross Runway 4 at Taxiway D and head toward a United Airlines flight that was evacuating due to a strange odor onboard.—
Evan Simko-Bednarski,
New York Daily News,
28 Apr. 2026
-
On World Rhythms, Lockwood trusts the listener to hear the arc of its noises, to trace their emergence and disappearance, their strange, seductive confluence.—
Joshua Minsoo Kim,
Pitchfork,
28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The barbed fact is that the woman caught in the middle of this unusual male arrangement benefits from none of their newfound emotional enlightenment.—
Alexandra Schwartz,
New Yorker,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Trent Richardson and Saquon Barkley are the only running backs who have been drafted in the top three picks in the last two decades of the NFL draft, but Jeremiyah Love joins that group as the Cardinals take the unusual move of drafting a back this high.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems are most likely to get sick from these germs.—
Jonel Aleccia,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Apr. 2026
-
The researchers also hope to test the protocol earlier in pregnancy, before a pregnant person gets seriously sick.—
Jackie Flynn Mogensen,
Scientific American,
27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said before tipoff Sunday that the team was prepared to play with or without Wembanyama, who was listed as questionable going into the game.—
Anne M. Peterson,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Preemptive strikes are a very questionable tactic unless the evidence of necessity is overwhelming.—
Gary Franks,
Hartford Courant,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The offensive had weapons and the defense boasted two fang-bearing edge rushers and a No Fly Zone secondary that humbled All-Pros, MVPs and journeymen without remorse.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
23 Apr. 2026
-
If Los Angeles humbled him, DePodesta’s first few years in Cleveland shook him up.—
Brittany Ghiroli,
New York Times,
21 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Ike is also just so funny at playing desperate characters like Benny or Morgan Tookers on The Mindy Project.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Apr. 2026
-
That’s funny, because even though kids are on Chromebooks all day, most of them aren’t learning how to type!—
Austin Elias-de Jesus,
New Yorker,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Now, those stories are far more uncommon.—
Elias Burke,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Power surges are not uncommon; that's why many homes and devices come equipped with surge protection to help protect your appliances and electronics.—
Timothy Dale,
Better Homes & Gardens,
25 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Trusting Anthropic to hold back dangerous models seems somewhat dubious, given that Amodei expressed similar worries about Anthropic’s chatbot, Claude, only to release it after OpenAI put out ChatGPT.—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
15 Apr. 2026
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But ousting Powell would be legally dubious, Dan Urman, director of the law and public policy minor at Northeastern University, told CBS News.—
Aimee Picchi,
CBS News,
15 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Queer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/queer. Accessed 30 Apr. 2026.
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