Queerbait

noun, verb, slang

noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A man who is attractive to queer/gay people. derogatory, slang, sometimes, uncountable

    "A couple of them are UNO pukes; the others are just ugly and stupid or probably latent queerbait themselves. Anyway, they're always on the prowl for fresh meat down in the Quarter."

Verb
  1. 1
    To engage in queerbaiting (creating homoerotic tension, but not developing it, in a narrative work to reel in an LGBT audience). slang
  2. 2
    To harass or vilify someone for their real or imagined queerness, often to advance political ends against them.

    "The reasons for red-baiting among gays are more legitimate than reasons for queer-baiting among leftists, because much of the left is imbued with bigotry and certain socialist regimes have been and are oppressive of gays."

Example

More examples

"A couple of them are UNO pukes; the others are just ugly and stupid or probably latent queerbait themselves. Anyway, they're always on the prowl for fresh meat down in the Quarter."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From queer + bait (“something that allures”).

Etymology 2

From queer + -bait (manipulation to elicit a particular response).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.