Meaning & use
queerness
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Meanings
noununcountable
The state or quality of being queer, especially of not being heterosexual or not fitting standard gender categories.
Grammar: Uncountable, so it takes a singular verb and no 'a' or plural: 'Queerness is often discussed in universities.'
Patterns
- the queerness of something
- a discussion of queerness
- celebrate queerness
Her writing explores queerness in small-town life.
The course looks at the history of queerness in twentieth-century art.
He talks about his queerness with honesty and humor.
noununcountableliteraryold-fashioned
The quality of being strange, odd, or different from what is usual or expected.
Grammar: Uncountable and rather literary; for everyday speech 'strangeness' or 'oddness' is far more common.
Patterns
- the queerness of something
- a certain queerness in something
There was a queerness about the empty house that made her uneasy.
He noticed the queerness of the silence before anyone spoke.
Common combinations
- the queerness of something
- The film captures the queerness of growing up in a strict community.
- explore queerness
- The novel explores queerness through three generations of one family.
- a sense of queerness
- Many readers describe a strong sense of queerness in her early poems.
- queerness and identity
- The seminar deals with queerness and identity in modern drama.
- discuss queerness openly
- Teachers are now more willing to discuss queerness openly in class.
Synonyms and how they differ
- strangeness
- Use this for the 'odd' sense; it cannot refer to sexual or gender identity.
- oddness
- Similar to 'strangeness' and slightly more informal; it never carries the identity meaning.
- homosexuality
- A narrower, more clinical word for attraction to the same sex; it does not include the wider gender and identity meanings that 'queerness' often covers.
- otherness
- Focuses on being seen as different from the majority, not specifically on sexuality or gender.
Opposites
Word family
- queer adjective
- Describing someone who is not heterosexual or does not fit standard gender categories; also an older word for 'strange'.
- queerly adverb
- In a strange or odd manner; rarely used for the identity sense.
- queer noun
- A person who is queer; it is reclaimed by many in the community but can be offensive when used by others as an insult.
Commonly confused: queerness or queer? queerness or gayness?
queerness vs queer
'Queer' is the adjective or noun for a person or thing; 'queerness' is the abstract noun for the quality. You say 'her queerness', not 'she is a queerness'.
queerness vs gayness
'Gayness' refers mainly to being gay, while 'queerness' is broader and can include many identities and kinds of non-conformity.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'queerness' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Queerness' is an uncountable noun, so it fits as the object of 'examines' in option 1. Option 0 wrongly uses it for a person, and options 2 and 3 treat it as a verb or adjective, which it is not.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “queerness”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.