scare quotes

American  

plural noun

1. 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.

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scare quotes British  

plural noun

1. quotation marks placed around a word or phrase to indicate that it should not be taken literally or automatically accepted as true

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Etymology

Origin of scare quotes

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

The scare quotes only hint at how overwrought these discussions can become among obsessives and stans.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 11, 2023

It’s not X or X.com, but “X, formerly known as Twitter,” or “Elon Musk’s X,” or even “X” in scare quotes.

From Slate • Aug. 31, 2023

His paper is rife with scare quotes and clauses layered in baklava-like profusion.

From New York Times • Dec. 27, 2021

As you can probably tell from the unnecessary scare quotes in the previous sentence, I don’t like it.

From The Verge • Oct. 13, 2021

Beethoven, in and out of scare quotes, has become a godlike abstraction of himself, complete with one-word moniker — his music less a product of culture than a feature of nature.

From Washington Post • Dec. 23, 2020