adj. 1
Homosexual: Only possessing sexual and/or romantic attraction towards people one perceives to be the same sex or gender as oneself.
Cliff is gay, but his twin brother is straight.
adj. 2
Happy, joyful, and lively.
adj. 3
Homosexual: Of a man, only romantically and/or sexually attracted to other men.
n. 1
A homosexual, especially a male homosexual.

Related words

Word family: gaybait gaybeseen gayborhood gaycism gaydom gay-feather gayful gay-hate
Phrases: gay marriage gay bob gay woman gay man don't say gay gay baby jail gay bash gay district

Forms

Plural: gays → gaynesses, homos, gaylords, fagmos…

Choose the right word

or Gay?

Gay applies to an effusive and superficial happiness (often not really worthy of that name) perhaps resulting largely from abundant animal spirits: we speak of gay revelers or a gay horse.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

lesbian Baya has been a lesbian for around six years now.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
gay		rising
lesbian		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: fast¹, glad¹, homo², ghey
5 letters: happy², light¹, smart¹, brave¹, merry², queer¹, jolly², brash¹, gaudy², showy², fagmo
6 letters: bright¹, lively², joyful², joyous², flashy², wanton², jovial³, frisky², garish², blithe¹, tawdry²
7 letters: lesbian³, festive², dashing², gallant², gaylord², gayness²
8 letters: laughing², animated⁴, cheerful², mirthful
9 letters: hilarious⁴, flaunting², convivial⁴, dissolute, homophile
10 letters: homosexual⁵
11 letters: sodomitical

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (homo² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: gai
Italiano: allegro
Español: alegre
Deutsch: fröhlich
Català: alegre