gay
- noun
- /ɡeɪ/
- We just had Chris Olson, gay guy, on the couch.
- gays and lesbians
- violence against gays
- gays in the military
Examples
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Most of my friends were gay guys or straight men.
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Now, first time you met gay people, what was that like?
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Well, not all gay people are dead, right?
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And Blake knows that this guy is gay, so does not care.
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We know that there will be some gay children in Parkfield.
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We were the first state to legalize gay marriage by law.
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But you have gay friends; you and Dad, there were gays at the party.
Fiction book (1994) -
They want to just belittle gay people and trans people.
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Everywhere one looks, gays and lesbians are seemingly visible in the media and on the street.
Academic text (2011) -
Many gay men attended the pride parade to celebrate their identities.
Synonyms
A person who is sexually attracted to people of the same sex
Relating to people whose sexual or gender identity is not straight
A person who is attracted to people of the same sex
A person who is attracted to people of the same sex
Antonyms
Idioms
- Informal
A humorous way to say someone is bisexual now but may become gay later
Compounds
Laws and protections that give people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender equal legal treatment
A short, rounded fashionable haircut with a neat, even shape often seen in LGBTQ+ culture
- Jargon
Ideas linking being gay, race, and politics that want equal money and power
- Specialized
The pressure of a gas rises when its temperature rises and its volume stays the same
How Inclusive
Surface Forms
Etymology
Gay as a noun comes from the same history: the old word gai meant 'happy' and then 'sexually free'. Over time people began to call someone a gay when they were attracted to the same sex. So, a gay person is 'a person who is attracted to people of the same sex'.