queer as a clockwork orange

adjective

Strange, odd, unusual.

Similar
queer as a cootqueer as a nine bob notequeer as a three dollar bill
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjective
  1. simileStrange, odd, unusual.
  2. simileUnusually camp, unusually homosexual.

    He sauntered the flunkied restaurant, queer / As a clockwork orange and not scared. / God, I was grateful for the nights we shared.

    1997, Tony Harrison, quoted in Sandie Byrne's introduction to Tony Harrison: Loiner (ed Sandie Byrne, 1997)

Synonyms & antonyms

both senses

Similar
queer as a cootqueer as a nine bob notequeer as a three dollar bill
Also see
queer as a nine bob notequeer as a three dollar billstrange

Origin

Cockney phrase from East London indicating something bizarre internally, but appearing natural and normal on the surface. Author Anthony Burgess appropriated the phrase for the title of his novella A Clockwork Orange.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

queer as a clockwork orange. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/queer%20as%20a%20clockwork%20orange

MLA

“queer as a clockwork orange.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/queer%20as%20a%20clockwork%20orange. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “queer as a clockwork orange,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/queer%20as%20a%20clockwork%20orange.

Source: queer as a clockwork orange on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.