| English Dictionary |
GAY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does gay mean?
• GAY (noun)
The noun GAY has 1 sense:
1. someone who is sexually attracted to persons of the same sex
Familiarity information: GAY used as a noun is very rare.
• GAY (adjective)
The adjective GAY has 6 senses:
1. bright and pleasant; promoting a feeling of cheer
2. full of or showing high-spirited merriment
3. given to social pleasures often including dissipation
4. brightly colored and showy
5. offering fun and gaiety
6. homosexual or arousing homosexual desires
Familiarity information: GAY used as an adjective is common.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Someone who is sexually attracted to persons of the same sex
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Synonyms:
gay; homo; homophile; homosexual
Hypernyms ("gay" is a kind of...):
individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gay"):
closet queen (a negative term for a homosexual man who chooses not to reveal his sexual orientation)
fag; faggot; fagot; fairy; nance; pansy; poof; poove; pouf; queen; queer (offensive term for a homosexual man)
gay woman; lesbian; tribade (a female homosexual)
Derivation:
gay (homosexual or arousing homosexual desires)
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: gayest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Bright and pleasant; promoting a feeling of cheer
Synonyms:
Context example:
a sunny smile
Similar:
cheerful (being full of or promoting cheer; having or showing good spirits)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Full of or showing high-spirited merriment
Synonyms:
gay; jocund; jolly; jovial; merry; mirthful
Context example:
a mirthful laugh
Similar:
joyous (full of or characterized by joy)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Given to social pleasures often including dissipation
Context example:
a gay old rogue with an eye for the ladies
Similar:
indulgent (characterized by or given to yielding to the wishes of someone)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Brightly colored and showy
Synonyms:
Context example:
birds with gay plumage
Similar:
colorful; colourful (striking in variety and interest)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Offering fun and gaiety
Synonyms:
Context example:
a merry evening
Similar:
joyous (full of or characterized by joy)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Homosexual or arousing homosexual desires
Synonyms:
Similar:
homosexual (sexually attracted to members of your own sex)
Derivation:
gay (someone who is sexually attracted to persons of the same sex)
gayness (a sexual attraction to (or sexual relations with) persons of the same sex)
Context examples
He spoke cheerfully: the gay tones set my heart at ease.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
I want our pet to like me, and be as gay as a butterfly.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
She is in gay spirits and full of life and cheerfulness.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
I was very young, and associated only with the young, and we were a thoughtless, gay set, without any strict rules of conduct.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
That is the first question, you know, said Miss Crawford, trying to appear gay and unconcerned, which every woman who plays herself is sure to ask about another.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
We returned to our college on a Sunday afternoon: the peasants were dancing, and every one we met appeared gay and happy.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
"I'm sorry to be troublin' you with me foolish spache," he said regretfully. "I mint nothin' by it. 'Tis a great day for Michael Dennin, an' he's as gay as a lark."
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
"If that's the way he's going to grow up, I wish he'd stay a boy," she thought, with a curious sense of disappointment and discomfort, trying meantime to seem quite easy and gay.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Well, you're a gay lot to look at, anyway.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
When they all sat down it was better; to her taste a great deal better, for Frank Churchill grew talkative and gay, making her his first object.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"Who pats the chicken, eats the egg." (Albanian proverb)
"Human thinks and God plans." (Arabic proverb)
"The fox can lose his fur but not his cunning." (Corsican proverb)