gay

noun

An English surname transferred from the nickname, originally a nickname for a cheerful or lively person.

A unisex given name from English.

A female given name from English, from the word gay (“joyful”); rare today.

A male given name from English.

A male given name transferred from the surname.

A diminutive of the male given names Gaylord or Gabriel, and similar names

(now chiefly in the plural) A homosexual, especially a male homosexual.

(informal, often derogatory or ironic) Gayness: the quality of being gay.

The letter —, which stands for the sound /ɡ/, in Pitman shorthand.

(dialectal, obsolete) Something which is bright or colorful, such as a picture or a flower.

(obsolete) An ornament, a knick-knack.

verb

(transitive, uncommon) To cause (something, e.g. AIDS) to be associated with homosexual people.

(transitive, dated, uncommon) To make happy or cheerful.

adjective

Homosexual:

(of a person) Possessing sexual and/or romantic attraction towards people one perceives to be the same sex or gender as oneself.

(strictly) Describing a homosexual man.

(of an animal, by extension) Tending to partner or mate with other individuals of the same sex.

(of a romantic or sexual act or relationship) Between two or more persons perceived to be of the same sex or gender as each other.

(colloquial) Not heterosexual, not allosexual, or not cisgender: homosexual, bisexual, asexual, transgender, etc.

(of an institution or group) Intended for gay people, especially gay men.

(slang, with for) Homosexually in love with someone.

(slang, humorous, with for) Infatuated with something, aligning with homosexual stereotypes.

In accordance with stereotypes of homosexual people:

(loosely, of appearance or behavior) Being in accordance with stereotypes of gay people, especially gay men.

(loosely, of a person, especially a man) Exhibiting appearance or behavior that accords with stereotypes of gay people, especially gay men.

A pejorative:

(slang, derogatory) Effeminate or flamboyant in behavior.

(slang, derogatory) Used to express dislike: lame, uncool, stupid, burdensome, contemptible, generally bad.

(of a dog's tail) Upright or curved over the back.

(dated) Happy, joyful, and lively.

(dated) Quick, fast.

(dated) Festive, bright, or colourful.

(obsolete) Sexually promiscuous (of any gender), (sometimes particularly) engaged in prostitution.

(Scotland, Northern England, possibly obsolete) Considerable, great, large in number, size, or degree. In this sense, also in the variant gey.

adverb

(Scotland, Northern England) Considerably, very.

Synonyms for gay

homosexualadj homophilen queeradj lesbiann bisexualadj sapphicadj homoeroticadj brawadj jollyadv merryadj jocundadj

Synonyms & related words for gay

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of gay — including homosexual, homophile, queer, lesbian, bisexual, sapphic. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to gay

Explore words related to gay — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include homo, gayness, tribade, bisexualism, bisexually, heterosexual, homosexuality, homosexually. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for gay

Common synonyms for gay include homosexual, homophile, queer, lesbian, bisexual, sapphic, homoerotic, braw — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.