gay
Preserved but no longer current.
Loose, dissipated; "GAY woman," a kept mistress or prostitute. Many people will remember Leech’s celebrated caricature of two wretched females on an equally wretched night, and the question asked by one woman of the other, "How long have you been GAY?"
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “gay” mean?
Loose, dissipated; "GAY woman," a kept mistress or prostitute. Many people will remember Leech’s celebrated caricature of two wretched females on an equally wretched night, and the question asked by one woman of the other, "How long have you been GAY?"
Is “gay” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.