ungayadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈɡeɪ/, U.S. /ˌənˈɡeɪ/ 1. Not gay (in various senses); esp. lacking cheerfulness or mirth; unhappy.
ΚΠ
1892 A. Bierce Black Beetles in Amber 198 It was a bruised and battered chap The victim of some dire mishap, Who sat upon a rock and spent His breath in this ungay lament.
1937 C. Connolly in L. Russell Press Gang! 79 Hubert said Balliol was perfect for case-histories like mine, but I realised I should find it madly ungay.
1947 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Oct. 56/2 It made him look, in his brown working suit with the big green splodges and patches sewed about it, like an ungay harlequin.
1951 N. Coward Diary 12 June (2000) 171 Went to the Festival of Britain fun-fair. Really the last word in squalor and completely ungay.
2008 Racing Post (Nexis) 18 May (Sport section) 115 I ended up very unhappy and very ungay.
2. spec. Not displaying characteristics or behaviour considered stereotypical of (esp. male) homosexuals. Later also: not homosexual; spec. heterosexual.
ΚΠ
1977 Logophile 1 iv. 9/2 I have known some very, very un-gay homosexuals, and many gay heterosexuals.
1997 Washington Post (Nexis) 5 June (Final ed.) c1 Semi-gay? Bi? Ungay, but misunderstood?
2011 M. Hayder Hanging Hill i. ix. 54 And that had been Zoë and Ben spoken for, stuck into a twenty-four-hour mission for Ben to prove to her how ungay he was.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1892