Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US) homosexual; effeminate.

1932		(con. 1910s) J.T. Farrell Young Lonigan in Studs Lonigan (1936) 31: I tell you he’s fruity.
1942		W. Winchell On Broadway 21 Mar. [synd. col.] He’s as fruity as a nutcake.
1959		W. Burroughs Naked Lunch (1968) 134: ‘Christ?’ sneers the vicious, fruity old Saint [...] That cheap ham!
1966		R.E. Alter Carny Kill (1993) 81: He was busy putting himself into a bright, severely-cut sports jacket that was a trifle fruity for my taste.
1979		J. Rechy Rushes (1981) 67: You fruity shit, lay off!
1988		M. Atwood Cat’s Eye (1989) 215: His scorn for boys who give a hoot about how they look is devastating. He calls them fruity clothes-horses.
1997		Busta Rhymes ‘Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See’ 🎵 Bitch nigga scared to death, act fruity, yo.
1997–2000		College Sl. Research Project (Cal. State Poly. Uni., Pomona) 🌐 Fruity (adj.) 1. Gay.
2004		K. Corum Now She’s Gone 111: I got a job assisting this guy named Fabulous Freddy, an interior designer. Bruce referred to my job as ‘the assistant to a very fruity guy.’.
2010		J. Ellroy Hilliker Curse 18: Criswell was a fruity guy with a cape.
2012		R. Milward Kimberly’s Capital Punishment (2023) 361: The fruity medic medic mutters something into his walkie-talkie.
2016		T. Robinson Rough Trade [ebook] ‘Frankly, I been thinking you were on the fruity side’.