Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of, relating to, or having a sexual orientation to persons of the same sex.
- adjective Showing or characterized by cheerfulness and lighthearted excitement; merry.
- adjective Bright or lively, especially in color.
- adjective Offensive Slang Socially inappropriate or foolish.
- adjective Given to social pleasures, especially at the expense of serious pursuits.
- adjective Dissolute or licentious.
- noun A person whose sexual orientation is to persons of the same sex.
- noun A man whose sexual orientation is to men.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Disposed to or excited with merriment or delight; demonstratively cheerful; merry; jovial; sportive; frolicsome.
- Such as to excite or indicate mirth or pleasure; hence, cheering; enlivening.
- Bright or lively, especially in color; gaudy; showy: as, a gay dress; a gay flower.
- Richly or showily dressed; adorned with fine clothing; highly ornamented.
- Given to pleasure; lively; in a bad sense, given to vicious pleasure; loose; dissipated.
- Quick; fast. [Prov. Eng.]
- Pretty long; considerable: as, a gay while. Compare gay, adv. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.]
- Bright, brilliant, dashing.
- noun Anything showily fine or ornamental; a gaud.
- noun A gay lady; a beautiful lady.
- noun A print or picture.
- noun The noon or morning, as the brighter part of the day.
- Pretty; moderately: as, gay gude.
- noun A small rut in a path. [Prov. Eng.]
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun obsolete An ornament.
- adjective Excited with merriment; manifesting sportiveness or delight; inspiring delight; livery; merry.
- adjective Brilliant in colors; splendid; fine; richly dressed.
- adjective colloq. Loose; dissipated; lewd.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective obsolete Sexually promiscuous (of either gender).
- adjective
Homosexual : - adjective A pejorative:
- adjective of a dog's tail
Upright orcurved over the back. - noun a
homosexual , especially amale homosexual; see alsolesbian . - noun obsolete An
ornament . - noun The name of the letter ⟨—⟩, which stands for the sound
IPA : /ɡ/, inPitman shorthand .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective brightly colored and showy
- adjective full of or showing high-spirited merriment
- adjective homosexual or arousing homosexual desires
- adjective bright and pleasant; promoting a feeling of cheer
- noun someone who practices homosexuality; having a sexual attraction to persons of the same sex
- adjective given to social pleasures often including dissipation
- adjective offering fun and gaiety
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
The word gay has been adopted by The Small Dog Club. Help support Wordnik by adopting your own word here.
Examples
-
If a gay man and a gay* woman marry each other it happens would you think it is equally dissembling if they referred to it as a different-sex marriage instead of a straight marriage or a heterosexual marriage?
The Volokh Conspiracy » “Gay Marriage” or “Same-Sex Marriage”? 2007
-
What a waste Mark is gay...reminds me of a song with dis line ~~all d handsome men are gay~~...haha...
Welcome to Miami Karyn 2006
-
- Little gay· chapero - gay bitch· Bastardo - Bastard·
RO.RSS 2010
-
* Dwight is "researching" gays by looking at gay porn because they found out Oscar was gay*
-
-- And you, my young friend, Master Augustine, shall be looked after as well as if you came with a gay brow and a light cheek, such as best becomes the _gay science_. "
Waverley Novels — Volume 12 Walter Scott 1801
-
As a matter of fact, the "New York Times" reported, "While much of his later life was occupied by scholarly questions of the Bible and homosexuality, he came to abhor the label 'gay minister.'"
Irene Monroe: Rev. Peter Gomes: The Accidental Gay Advocate Irene Monroe 2011
-
Sen. Mark Grisanti of Buffalo, who was elected in the fall, told a public forum that he won't vote for a bill that uses the term "gay marriage," a spokesman said.
Gay Marriage Effort Taps GOP Strategists Jacob Gershman 2011
-
Because it turns out the guy who owns the car, expensive car, by the way, is the owner of a nightclub, and he had on his license plate the term gay, bi-gay, which is, by the way, the name of his club.
-
As a person who is in the middle of college , I still hear the term gay thrown around quite a bit.
-
While much of his later life was occupied by scholarly questions of the Bible and homosexuality, he came to abhor the label "gay minister," and pursued a much wider range of studies, on early American religions, Elizabethan Puritanism, church music and the African-American experience.
NYT > Home Page By ROBERT D. McFADDEN 2011
kewpid commented on the word gay
But the child that is born
on the Sabbath day is…
bonnie and blythe
and good and gay.
September 18, 2007
reesetee commented on the word gay
Alas, I'm Tuesday's child. Apparently I am full of grace. ;-)
September 18, 2007
uselessness commented on the word gay
Interesting, I had no idea what day of the week I was born on, but thanks to the internet, I could look it up! Turns out: Sunday. However I am rather straight. ;-)
September 18, 2007
reesetee commented on the word gay
But no less bonnie, blythe, and good, I imagine.
September 18, 2007
uselessness commented on the word gay
True enough. :-)
September 18, 2007
trivet commented on the word gay
I work hard for a living...
September 18, 2007
jennarenn commented on the word gay
Alas, I am full of woe.
September 19, 2007
npydyuan commented on the word gay
sociophobic flail at humor contritely redacted by misshapen author
September 19, 2007
reesetee commented on the word gay
Er...npydyuan? Easy there.
September 19, 2007
npydyuan commented on the word gay
Hmmm... no emoticon... have I genuinely offended?
September 19, 2007
reesetee commented on the word gay
Just a tad. But not to worry--I'm over it. :-)
September 19, 2007
npydyuan commented on the word gay
Well, that's a relief. I was referring to the sense of fag identified by SonofGroucho. My logophilia, I'm afraid, is often matched with juvenilia!
September 19, 2007
reesetee commented on the word gay
Not a problem, npydyuan. But whatever else you do here, avoid mentioning the word sprite! ;-)
September 20, 2007
uselessness commented on the word gay
Eeeeeek!
September 20, 2007
npydyuan commented on the word gay
re: sprite—Wow! It is heartening to see how non-flamey that potentially volatile discussion remained.
Inspired by one of reesetee's comments there, I feel like volunteering this bit of tangential autobiographica: I am bisexual, and trying to figure out when semi-self-referential ironic gay comments are going to be well received, has often proved a challenging social puzzle.
September 20, 2007
reesetee commented on the word gay
For what it's worth, I try not to think too much about other people's reactions anymore. :-)
September 20, 2007
npydyuan commented on the word gay
Yeah--that's probably the most sane policy.
September 20, 2007
bilby commented on the word gay
An industrial town near Orenburg, Russia.
January 1, 2008
johnmperry commented on the word gay
In the tales of Archy & Mehitabel (Don Marquis, 1916 onwards) the watchword of Mehitabel the cat was "toujours gay archy, toujours gay." Archy was a cockroach who couldn't hack the shift key on the typewriter, so always wrote in lower case.
June 18, 2008
johnmperry commented on the word gay
"bonnie and blythe
and good and gay"
- check bonnie
June 18, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word gay
As an answer to plethora's comment, on another word (I just don't want it to become the "most active thread"):
I hate it too, and yes, plethora, it's your generation! :-) When I attended high school (I'm 28) it wasn't used that way, at least in Italy.
August 24, 2008
bilby commented on the word gay
I'll give you the best help I can:
Before you up the mountain go,
Up to the dreary mountain-top,
I'll tell you all I know.
'Tis now some two and twenty years,
Since she (her name is Martha Ray)
Gave with a maiden's true good will
Her company to Stephen Hill;
And she was blithe and gay,
And she was happy, happy still
Whene'er she thought of Stephen Hill.
- William Wordsworth, 'The Thorn', 1798.
October 9, 2008