quotation marks

Cultural  

1. Punctuation marks (“ ”) that set off dialogue, quoted material, titles of short works, and definitions. When something must be quoted inside a quotation, single quotation marks are used: “‘Religion,’ according to Karl Marx (see also Marx), ‘is the opiate of the masses.’”

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Example Sentences

At least one copy included peculiar quotation marks in the opening paragraphs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

The tweets are written in all caps and are smattered with random old-guy quotation marks, parentheticals, and pejorative nicknames.

From Slate • Aug. 26, 2025

According to MacDonald, it took his organization’s staff only a minute to put the text in quotation marks and run it through Google.

From Salon • Jul. 29, 2025

Berlant, a gifted physical comic who whipsaws between over-the-top grandeur and abject awkwardness, introduces her situations with a wink — and even the winks are delivered in quotation marks.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 24, 2024

And when he bowed—a sort of bow in quotation marks, as if he were wearing a tuxedo—his hand swished across my shoulder.

From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee