parentheses

Cultural  

1. Punctuation marks — ( ) — used to separate elements in a sentence. Parentheses subordinate (see subordination) the material within them so that readers save most of their attention for the rest of the sentence: “Aunt Sarah (who is really my mother's cousin) will be visiting next week.”

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Example Sentences

It’s less jarring than parentheses but a bigger interruption than commas.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 20, 2025

They are listed in ascending order of their trailing-month returns, which are displayed in the parentheses.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 10, 2025

Unlike periods and commas, em dashes aren’t integral to sentence structure; they’re a considered choice that can, but by no means have to, take the place of commas, parentheses and semicolons.

From Salon • Jun. 11, 2025

The Associated Press state football poll for Washington as voted upon by a panel of sports media from across state with first-place votes in parentheses, season record and points from the poll.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 26, 2023

The words in parentheses, by the way, are prepositions, words that “position”—that is, locate—other words.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner