Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The supposed ability to discern whether a person is homosexual.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The supposed ability to detect whether or not a person is gay by observing that person.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Blend of gay and radar.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Blend of gay and radar

Support

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Examples

  • Then I'm afraid I taught her the term gaydar because she asked, how, if straight people and gay people weren't very different, one could tell them apart, which cracked her up.

    Archive 2009-09-01 delagar 2009

  • Then I'm afraid I taught her the term gaydar because she asked, how, if straight people and gay people weren't very different, one could tell them apart, which cracked her up.

    How To Talk To Your Kid About Gay Sex delagar 2009

  • It might be that the TROLLS gaydar is on the fritz today, because I figured all the haters, hypocrites and bible thumpers would be here … … …. or are they all out there protesting homosexuality at our brave soldiers funerals.

    Think Progress » First same-sex couple weds in D.C. 2010

  • Some have expressed shock; others are quick to boast that they already knew, due to their "gaydar" - enhanced psychic powers.

    NPR Topics: News 2011

  • But among Haiti's LGBTQ middle and profession classes they find ways to socialize out of the public "gaydar" and with impunity.

    Irene Monroe: The Roots Of Voodoo's Acceptance Of Gays Irene Monroe 2011

  • But among Haiti's LGBTQ middle and profession classes they find ways to socialize out of the public "gaydar" and with impunity.

    Irene Monroe: The Roots Of Voodoo's Acceptance Of Gays Irene Monroe 2011

  • My "gaydar" says Knotts and Sanford may be a little "light in the loafers."

    Sanford accused of smear campaign against Bauer 2009

  • It's the pleasure I get when I think about the SNL skit "Girl With No Gaydar" and imagine an ancient, bespectacled don whose erudite etymology of "gaydar" is set down for all time in tiny type somewhere in the dictionary's early volumes, displayed on the dusty shelves of hushed academic libraries across the globe.

    Are You a Bridezilla? Check the OED Andrew Flynn 2010

  • I shall have to defer to Peter Mandelson's greater expertise at spotting gays, what is often referred to as "gaydar".

    Archive 2008-04-01 FIDO The Dog 2008

  • It doesn't take finely tuned 'gaydar' to see that there is a sizeable gay community in Morelia.

    Gay community in Michoacan? 2005

Comments

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  • Living in San Francisco has severely affected my gaydar. I think everyone's gay until they prove me wrong. :)

    September 13, 2007

  • No it hasn't. Everyone is gay until they prove you wrong. ;-)

    ***KIDDING*** <--- NOTE DISCLAIMER

    September 13, 2007

  • *smirks surreptitiously at reesetee, shies away from this conversation*

    September 14, 2007

  • Smart man.

    September 14, 2007

  • That is all I have to say about this.

    September 14, 2007

  • For example, there are two in this page.

    April 3, 2008

  • OK, now there are three.

    April 3, 2008