Fag Definition & Meaning

American

British

Sensitive Note

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Related Words

Synonyms fag 1 American [fag] / fæg /

noun

Slang.

1. Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a gay man.

2. Offensive. a contemptible or dislikable person.

fag 2 American [fag] / fæg /

verb (used with object)

fagged, fagging

1. to tire or weary by labor; exhaust (often followed byout ).

   The long climb fagged us out.

2. British. to require (a younger public-school pupil) to do menial chores.

3. Nautical. to fray or unlay the end of (a rope).

verb (used without object)

fagged, fagging

1. Chiefly British. to work until wearied; work hard.

   to fag away at French.

2. British Informal. to do menial chores for an older public-school pupil.

noun

1. Slang. a cigarette.

2. a fag end, as of cloth.

3. a rough or defective spot in a woven fabric; blemish; flaw.

4. Chiefly British. drudgery; toil.

5. British Informal. a younger pupil in a British public school required to perform certain menial tasks for, and submit to the hazing of, an older pupil.

6. a drudge.

fag 1 British / fæɡ /

noun

1. informal a boring or wearisome task

   it's a fag having to walk all that way

2. (esp formerly) a young public school boy who performs menial chores for an older boy or prefect

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

1. informal to become or cause to become exhausted by hard toil or work

2. (usually intr) to do or cause to do menial chores in a public school

   Brown fags for Lee

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 fag 2 British / fæɡ /

noun

1. a slang word for cigarette

2. a fag end, as of cloth

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 fag 3 British / fæɡ /

noun

1. slang short for faggot 2

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Sensitive Note

The terms fag and faggot are both used with disparaging intent and are perceived as highly insulting. However, faggot (but not fag ) is sometimes used within the gay community as a positive term of self-reference.

Other Word Forms

• faggish adjective
• unfagged adjective

Etymology

Origin of fag1

An Americanism dating back to 1920–25; by shortening of faggot 1 ( def. )

Origin of fag2

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English fag(ge) “broken thread in cloth, a knot (in cloth), loose end” (further origin obscure); sense development apparently: “drooping end” to “droop, tire” to “make weary” to “drudgery, drudge” (compare flag 1 to flag 3 ); fag 2 ( def. 6 ) a shortening of fag end (“a butt,” hence a cigarette)

Related Words

• annoy
• bore
• depress
• disgust
• dishearten
• dispirit
• displease
• drain
• exasperate
• fail
• fatigue
• irk
• irritate
• jade
• overwork
• wear
• worry

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.