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
as in sick
affected with nausea
eating all of that deep-fried food would make most people feel a little queer
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Adjective
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
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Thomas Wentworth Higginson spent his leisure time writing down the strange new lyrics in his journal.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Oct. 2025
-
The place was a dump, with paint chipping from the ceilings, floors slanted at strange angles, rodent droppings situated along the floorboards, and paper-thin walls that welcomed in bitter winter air.—
Jeff Pearlman,
Rolling Stone,
17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The shake-up leaves an unusual number of spots open on the party’s Central Committee, which began its term in 2022 with 205 members and 171 non-voting alternates.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Moose Jaw was actually unusual for its welcoming of Chinese immigrants, no small achievement in the often violently racist response to Asian immigrants to North America.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Only sea stars injected with Vibrio pectenicida, or with material from sick sea stars, showed signs of disease.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
17 Oct. 2025
-
The Aquarium’s Rescue and Rehabilitation team also spends several months every year caring for sick and injured green sea turtles at its Sea Turtle Hospital in Quincy, Massachusetts.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
16 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Adding to the lore, Springer was hit by a pitch in his right knee late during Game 5 in Seattle, a Mariners victory that put them up 3-2 and was questionable for the rest of the series.—
Barry M. Bloom,
Sportico.com,
21 Oct. 2025
-
These are winnable games if everyone executes on the Carolina side, but Young being questionable for both (potentially) makes the outlook kind of up in the air.—
Mike Kaye
October 21,
Charlotte Observer,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
This remarkable discovery is a powerful and humbling reminder that people have walked this land, our home in Fayette County, for millennia.—
Jennifer Rodriguez,
Kansas City Star,
14 Oct. 2025
-
There was something so humbling and beautiful in seeing one great athlete crown another.—
Lynnette Nicholas,
Essence,
13 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
His writing is lavishly detailed and sharply intelligent, nuanced and lyrical but also funny and sometimes surreal.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Oct. 2025
-
The dudes-rock montage that followed the execution sketch had some genuinely funny bits.—
T. M. Brown,
New Yorker,
15 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
While factory closures have not been uncommon over the past year, BGMEA officials say the industry is facing mounting pressures.—
Mayu Saini,
Sourcing Journal,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Unlike Major League Baseball, fire sales are highly uncommon in the NFL when teams fall out of playoff contention.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Sometimes, Wyeth’s work was described as bourgeois, betraying a desire for black ease and affluence, trading in a corrosive and politically dubious desire to see black people rich or at the very least in luxurious settings.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Oct. 2025
-
That decision seems dubious, because Trader made one of the most damaging defensive plays of the game when he was juked out by Ladd McConkey on a play in which the Chargers receiver caught a 3-yard pass and ran another 40 to set up the game-winning field goal.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
13 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Queer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/queer. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
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