How to say “gay” in 31 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- gay/ˈɡei/ Spanish
- γκέι/ˈɟei/ Greek
- கேய்/ɡeːj/ Tamil
- గే/ˈɡeː/ Telugu
- گے/ɡeː/ Urdu
“gay” in Spanish: gay · French: gay · German: schwul · Italian: gay · Greek: γκέι
It is commonest in Urdu, where گے is the 45th most used word.
Gay in other languages, A to Z
- Bosnian gej/ɡêːj/ a gay person, homosexual #1,463
- Bulgarian гей[ɡɛj] gay man, homosexual man #1,060
- Croatian gej/ɡêːj/ a gay person, homosexual #2,377
- Czech gay[ˈɡɛj] gay male #1,465
- Dutch homo/ˈɦoː.moː/ gay, homosexual #1,349
- Estonian gei/ɡ̊ei̯/ a gay person #1,427
- Finnish homo/ˈhomo/ gay man #1,952
- French gay/ɡɛ/ #1,503
- Georgian გეი[ɡ̊e̞i] gay man #171
- German schwul/ʃvuːl/ #2,346
- Greek γκέι/ˈɟei/ #1,315
- Hebrew הומו/ˈ(h)omo/ gay man #972
- Hindi समलैंगिक/səm.lɛːŋ.ɡɪk/ homosexual, gay #2,036
- Icelandic hommi[ˈhɔm(ː)ɪ] a homosexual male, a gay male #916
- Indonesian gay/ˈɡɛj/ gay, homosexual #1,645
- Italian gay/ˈɡɛj/ #1,089
- Korean 게이[ke̞i] gay man #884
- Latvian gejs/ˈɡejs/ gay, homosexual #2,484
- Lithuanian gėjus[²ˈɡʲeːjʊ̟s] a gay man #931
- Macedonian геј[ɡɛj] gay, homosexual #1,386
- Persian گی[ɡʲej] a gay man, a male homosexual #2,052
- Polish gejem/ˈɡɛ.jɛm/ #2,358
- Romanian gay[ɡej] #1,675
- Serbian gej/ɡêːj/ a gay person, homosexual #1,295
- Slovenian gej/ɡɛ́ːj/ #668
- Spanish gay/ˈɡei/ gay, homosexual #1,349
- Swedish bög/bøːɡ/ a homosexual male; gay, fag, queer, poof #2,070
- Tamil கேய்/ɡeːj/ gay; a homosexual man #1,043
- Telugu గే/ˈɡeː/ #672
- Urdu گے/ɡeː/ gay, homosexual #45
- Vietnamese vui[vuj˧˧] merry; joyful; gay #234
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0), Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0) and Vietnamese (vais1000 (vi_VN), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.