quare

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   strange, unusual, or remarkable; dated and dialectal, especially in Ireland

   A quare noise came from the empty room just after midnight.

2. 2
   adj

   very great, considerable, or intense, used for emphasis in Irish English

   They had a quare amount of work to finish before dawn.

A regional variant of queer, recorded especially in Irish English, Appalachia, and parts of Canada. The spelling reflects a pronunciation distinct from the now-common pronunciation of queer. In Irish use it also developed an intensifying sense such as "very" or "a great deal of."

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