quote unquote
/kwəʊ̯t ʌn.kwəʊ̯t/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.18 in modern English
30
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Emphasizes the following (or sometimes preceding) word or phrase for irony, or marks it as not the normal sense of the term.
adv
Used in spoken language to delimit a quotation in the same function as quotation marks.
Example Sentences
- "Maybe you should ask your quote unquote friend what happened to the money."
- "`We're a young quote-unquote club. [...] In time, it will become a club.'"
- "“Brandishing weapons and leaning into gun culture is viewed as revolutionary, and by revolutionary I mean, in their minds, the most virtuous sense, as defenders of quote unquote America,” he says."
- "As a performer, [Sydney] Sweeney is best when she’s given a challenge. Asked to play a quote-unquote normal girl in, say, the rom-com “Anyone but You” (2023), one of her biggest box office triumphs to date, she falls flat."
- "Adam Smith claimed that a capitalist is, quote, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention, unquote."
- "So you quote love unquote me / Well, stranger things have come to be"
Etymology
From quote + unquote, a spoken equivalent of air quotes, used to express satire, sarcasm, irony or euphemism, analogous to scare quotes in print.
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /kwəʊ̯t ʌn.kwəʊ̯t/
Inflected Forms
quote-unquote (alternative)
quote on quote (alternative)
quote end quote (alternative)
quote … unquote (canonical)