Adjacent Words

Gay definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

GAY, a.
1. Merry; airy; jovial; sportive; frolicksome. It denotes more life and animation than cheerful.
Belinda smiled, and all the world was gay.
2. Fine; showy; as a gay dress.
3. Inflamed or merry with liquor; intoxicated; a vulgar use of the word in America.
GAY, n. An ornament. [Not used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: bright and pleasant; promoting a feeling of cheer; "a cheery hello"; "a gay sunny room"; "a sunny smile" [syn: cheery, gay, sunny]
2: full of or showing high-spirited merriment; "when hearts were young and gay"; "a poet could not but be gay, in such a jocund company"- Wordsworth; "the jolly crowd at the reunion"; "jolly old Saint Nick"; "a jovial old gentleman"; "have a merry Christmas"; "peals of merry laughter"; "a mirthful laugh" [syn: gay, jocund, jolly, jovial, merry, mirthful]
3: given to social pleasures often including dissipation; "led a gay Bohemian life"; "a gay old rogue with an eye for the ladies"
4: brightly colored and showy; "girls decked out in brave new dresses"; "brave banners flying"; "`braw' is a Scottish word"; "a dress a bit too gay for her years"; "birds with gay plumage" [syn: brave, braw, gay]
5: offering fun and gaiety; "a festive (or festal) occasion"; "gay and exciting night life"; "a merry evening" [syn: gay, festal, festive, merry]
6: homosexual or arousing homosexual desires [syn: gay, queer, homophile] n
1: someone who practices homosexuality; having a sexual attraction to persons of the same sex [syn: homosexual, homophile, homo, gay]

Merriam Webster's

biographical name John 1685-1732 English poet & dramatist

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French gai, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German g?hi quick, sudden Date: 14th century 1. a. happily excited ; merry <in a gay mood> b. keenly alive and exuberant ; having or inducing high spirits <a bird's gay spring song> 2. a. bright, lively <gay sunny meadows> b. brilliant in color 3. given to social pleasures; also licentious 4. a. homosexual <gay men> b. of, relating to, or used by homosexuals <the gay rights movement> <a gay bar> Synonyms: see lively • gay adverb • gayness noun II. noun Date: 1953 homosexual; especially a homosexual male

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 light-hearted and carefree; mirthful. 2 characterized by cheerfulness or pleasure (a gay life). 3 brightly coloured; showy, brilliant (a gay scarf). 4 colloq. a homosexual. b intended for or used by homosexuals (a gay bar). Usage: Generally informal in use, but favoured by homosexuals with ref. to themselves. 5 colloq. dissolute, immoral. --n. colloq. a homosexual, esp. male. Phrases and idioms: Gay Liberation the advocacy of homosexuals' freedom from social discrimination. Derivatives: gayness n. Etymology: ME f. OF gai, of unkn. orig.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gay Gay, a. [Compar. Gayer; superl. Gayest.] [F. gai, perhaps fr. OHG. g?hi swift, rapid, G. g["a]h, j["a]h, steep, hasty; or cf. OHG. w?hi beatiful, good. Cf. Jay.] 1. Excited with merriment; manifesting sportiveness or delight; inspiring delight; livery; merry. Belinda smiled, and all the world was gay. --Pope. Gay hope is theirs by fancy fed. --Gray. 2. Brilliant in colors; splendid; fine; richly dressed. Why is my neighbor's wife so gay? --Chaucer. A bevy of fair women, richly gay In gems and wanton dress! --Milton. 3. Loose; dissipated; lewd. [Colloq.] Syn: Merry; gleeful; blithe; airy; lively; sprightly, sportive; light-hearted; frolicsome; jolly; jovial; joyous; joyful; glad; showy; splendid; vivacious.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gay Gay, n. An ornament [Obs.] --L'Estrange.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(gays, gayer, gayest) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A gay person is homosexual. The quality of life for gay men has improved over the last two decades. ...the gay community. ? straight ADJ: usu ADJ n • Gays are homosexual people, especially homosexual men. More importantly, gays have proved themselves to be style leaders. N-PLURAL • gayness ...Mike's admission of his gayness. N-UNCOUNT 2. A gay person is fun to be with because they are lively and cheerful. (OLD-FASHIONED) I am happy and free, in good health, gay and cheerful. ADJ 3. A gay object is brightly coloured and pretty to look at. (OLD-FASHIONED) I like gay, relaxing paintings. = cheerful ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Showy, bright, fine, brilliant, dashing. 2. Gaudy, flaunting, flashy, garish, tawdry, glittering, tinsel, loud (colloq.). 3. Merry, lively, cheerful, gleeful, jovial, sprightly, blithe, blithesome, airy, sportive, frolicsome, gladsome, jolly, vivacious, hilarious, light-hearted.

Moby Thesaurus

AC-DC, abandoned, addled, alert, amphierotic, animate, animated, antic, autoerotic, beaming, beatific, beatified, beery, bemused, besotted, bisexed, bisexual, blessed, blind drunk, blissful, blithe, blithesome, boon, brash, brave, bravura, braw, bright, bright-hued, brilliant, bubbling, bubbly, buoyant, burning, butch, cant, capering, capersome, carefree, cheerful, chichi, chipper, chirping, colorful, colory, coltish, confident, convivial, crapulent, crapulous, dancing, daring, dashing, debauched, debonair, deep-colored, deviant, devil-may-care, dissipated, dissolute, dizzy, drenched, dressy, drunk, drunken, effeminate, effervescent, exhibitionistic, exotic, exuberant, far-gone, fast, festal, festive, flashing, flashy, flaunting, flushed with joy, flustered, forward, fou, free, free and easy, frilly, frisky, frolicsome, frothy, full, full of beans, gala, gallant, gamesome, garish, gaudy, gay-colored, giddy, glad, gladsome, gleeful, glittering, glorious, glowing, gorgeous, hail-fellow-well-met, happy, hearty, high-colored, high-spirited, hilarious, homoerotic, homophile, homosexual, in liquor, inebriate, inebriated, inebrious, intense, intoxicated, inverted, jaunty, jazzy, jocund, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyous, jubilant, keen, laughing, leaping, lesbian, licentious, light-hearted, lighthearted, lively, mannish, many-colored, maudlin, mellow, merry, merrymaking, mirthful, muddled, nappy, on the loose, overweening, perverted, playful, presuming, profligate, purring, pushful, pushy, queer, radiant, raffish, rakehell, rakehellish, rakehelly, rakish, reeling, rich, rich-colored, rollicking, rollicksome, rompish, sapphic, self-assertive, shikker, showy, singing, skittish, smiling, smirking, snazzy, sodden, sotted, sparkling, spirited, splashy, splurgy, sportive, sporty, sprightly, starry-eyed, thrice happy, tiddly, tipsy, transvestite, tribadistic, unbridled, under the influence, vital, vivacious, vivid, wild, zestful, zippy