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quote-unquote

British

interjection

an expression used before or part before and part after a quotation to identify it as such, and sometimes to dissociate the writer or speaker from it

"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

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.

Swan, herself no stranger to the wellness-podcast circuit, was careful to insert the caveat that the film is “not a quote-unquote ‘scientific study.’

From Slate • Apr. 16, 2026

“They, quote-unquote, innovated by taking what others have created and using it to build their own product,” Muller said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 20, 2026

She wouldn’t just lie down and allow people to take something from her, whether or not it’s for her quote-unquote highest good.

From Salon • Oct. 17, 2025

“There’s an issue of taking something that’s very distinctly Asian in its identity and quote-unquote ‘making it better,’” Liu said on the episode.

From Salon • May 17, 2025

Yeah, riding a bike is more thrilling than quote-unquote jumping out of a plane.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023