scare quotes
a pair of quotation marks used around a term or phrase to indicate that the writer does not think it is being used appropriately or that the writer is using it in a specialized sense: a “huge breakthrough” in the negotiations.: Compare air quotes.
Origin of scare quotes
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use scare quotes in a sentence
“Cultures” Versus “White Girls” As you can probably sense from my scare quotes, you can never be too careful these days.
Solange Smacks Jay Z, Legolas Slaps Bieber, and the Biggest Celebrity Feuds of the Year | Amy Zimmerman | December 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTKeep the scare quotes around gay “marriage,” or at least put an asterisk after it.
RFRA Madness: What’s Next for Anti-Democratic ‘Religious Exemptions’ | Jay Michaelson | November 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe first author responded by calling the second “a journalist” (in scare quotes).
British Dictionary definitions for scare quotes
quotation marks placed around a word or phrase to indicate that it should not be taken literally or automatically accepted as true
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse