How to Use Polari in a Sentence
Polari
noun-
The Polari Prize doesn’t seem to be backing down.
—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
11 Aug. 2025
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Big hat tip to Jay Hulme, who has been tracking the Polari withdrawals on Bluesky.
—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
11 Aug. 2025
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Back slang and rhyme were significant features of Polari, for instance, an argot used chiefly between gay men in the mid-20th century.
—
New York Times,
24 June 2026
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Pollari wrote much of the rock song in Polari, which is a historical British cant invented by gay men to speak openly in public while homosexuality was criminalized between the 16th and 19th centuries.
—
Daniela Avila,
PEOPLE,
15 Sep. 2026
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The Polari Prize, one of the UK’s premiere awards celebrating LGBTQ+ writing, has sparked controversy by including John Boyne’s Earth as a contender for their annual Book Prize.
—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
11 Aug. 2025
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Polari.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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