so-called
Americanadjective
-
called or designated thus.
the so-called Southern bloc.
-
incorrectly called or styled thus.
so-called intellectuals.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of so-called
First recorded in 1650–60
Explanation
When you say someone is a so-called pacifist, you are suggesting that they are a pacifist in name only. While they are busy making everyone talk about how peaceful they are, chances are they're also bombing villages to dust. Using the word so-called is a great way to point out systemic hypocrisy and is a much-beloved tool of street preachers and conspiracy cranks the world over. They might talk about our so-called democracy being in fact a sham, and our so-called democratic elections being rigged by forces beyond our control.
Vocabulary lists containing so-called
Booked
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The Losers Club
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We Are Displaced
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The most serious question arises from so-called “charming penguins,” a set of processes present in the Standard Model, whose contributions are extremely tricky to predict.
From Science Daily • May 26, 2026
The heatwave is a result of a so-called "heat dome", external - the warm air from northern Africa trapped under a high-pressure system over western Europe.
From BBC • May 26, 2026
Some analysts say the so-called K-shaped economy — where fortunes for wealthier consumers go up, while declining for everyone else — has gotten more pronounced this year.
From MarketWatch • May 26, 2026
The so-called "IS brides" are Australian nationals and left the Roj camp, controlled by Syrian Kurdish forces, last week.
From Barron's • May 25, 2026
In 1963 a mathematician, Paul Cohen, proved that this puzzle, the so-called continuum hypothesis, was neither provable nor disprovable, thanks to Gödel’s incompleteness theorem.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
