Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Commonly called: "new buildings ... in so-called modern style” ( Graham Greene).
- adj. Incorrectly or falsely termed: My so-called friends were gossiping about me again.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- See so called, under so, adverb
Wiktionary
- adj. So named; called by such a name, with a very strong connotation that the item is not worthy of that name.
- adj. Same as above, without the negative connotation.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. So named; called by such a name (but perhaps called thus with doubtful propriety).
WordNet 3.0
- adj. doubtful or suspect
Examples
“If there were any lingering doubts concerning the status and integrity of the Palestinian National Authority -- and its so-called President, Mahmoud Abbas (\ "so-called\" because his term of office, such as it was, expired almost a year ago) -- they were surely dispelled once and for all by its decision to drop its support for a UN resolution that would have referred the Goldstone Report on Israel\'s post-Christmas 2008 attack on Gaza to the UN Security Council.”
“I usually resist the term "so-called," but it's appropriate here because this amendment is not about balancing the budget.”
“From your repeated use of the phrase 'so-called anomalies,' can I assume that your observations have suggested a more useful or more accurate term?”
“Boykin, then a Pentagon intelligence officer, touched off a firestorm in October 2003 after giving speeches while in uniform in which he referred to the so-called war on terrorism as a battle with Satan.”
“The minister was referring to the so-called carry trade, the practice by which some investors borrow money overseas at low international interest rates and then invest it in Brazil.”
The Wall Street Journal: Brazil Measures Counter Credit Growth
“There is another and arguably more compelling reason why Slovaks should question the need to cough up in the name of so-called European "solidarity," though.”
“There is another and arguably more compelling reason why Slovaks should question the need to cough up in the name of so-called European "solidarity.”
The Wall Street Journal: Slovakia Says No to Europe's Bailouts
“There is a literature—in fact quite an extensive one1—on why companies apparently concentrate their attention on short-term financial control at the expense of longer-term so-called “strategic” controls.”
“A presidential pardon has granted amnesty to 651 prisoners in Myanmar, also known as Burma, though not all of those detained are identified as so-called prisoners of conscience.”
“And yet, according to the Times' own Twitter dispatch, the devices are referred to as "so-called #DSK buttons.”
Lists
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Academic Vocabulary
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abandon, abandonment, abnormally, abstract, abstraction, abstractly, abstracts, academia, academic, academically, academics, academies and 3092 more...
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