Gunsel
noun, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Synonym of catamite: a young man kept by an elder as a (usually passive) homosexual partner. dated, slang
"The boy’s eyes […] ran over Spade’s body from shoulders to knees […] “Another thing,” Spade repeated, glaring at the boy: “Keep that gunsel away from me while you’re making up your mind. I’ll kill him […] ”"
- 2 A gun-carrying hoodlum or other criminal.
"There's somebody comin. I think it's that gunsel."
- 3 Synonym of bottom: a passive partner in a male homosexual relationship. dated, slang
- 4 Synonym of bitch: a man forced or coerced into a homosexual relationship. dated, slang
Example
More examples"The boy’s eyes […] ran over Spade’s body from shoulders to knees […] “Another thing,” Spade repeated, glaring at the boy: “Keep that gunsel away from me while you’re making up your mind. I’ll kill him […] ”"
Etymology
From Yiddish גענדזל (gendzl, “gosling”), from Middle High German gensel, diminutive of gans (“goose”).
By misunderstanding of the 1929 Maltese Falcon quotation above (1.1) (which survived in a popular 1941 film adaptation). The novel was originally serialized in a magazine, Black Mask, whose editor refused to allow vulgarities. Hammett used the word gunsel knowing that the editor would likely misunderstand it as relating to gun, and therefore allow it.
More for "gunsel"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.