re-gay

verb

To cause (an issue, especially AIDS) to be associated once again with gay people.

First used popularized in the 1990s
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Meanings

verbre-gay (third-person singular simple present re-gays, present participle re-gaying, simple past and past participle re-gayed)

present singular third person re-gays · participle present re-gaying · participle past re-gayed · past re-gayed

  1. uncommonTo cause (an issue, especially AIDS) to be associated once again with gay people.First known use popularized in the 1990s

    This is why AIDS simply had to be re-gayed.

    2002, Simon Watney, Imagine Hope, page 189

Origin

From re- + gay.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

re-gay. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/re-gay

MLA

“re-gay.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/re-gay. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “re-gay,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/re-gay.

Source: re-gay on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.