Library / English Dictionary

SO-CALLED

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Doubtful or suspect

Example:

these so-called experts are no help

Synonyms:

alleged; so-called; supposed

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

questionable (subject to question)

Credits

 Context examples: 

A group of astronomers from Australia and China have built their “intuitive and accurate three-dimensional picture” by mapping the so-called “classical Cepheids.”

(Scientists Say Milky Way Is Warped & Twisted Not Flat, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The observations represent the first time that so-called heavy metals—elements heavier than hydrogen and helium—have been spotted escaping from a hot Jupiter, a large, gaseous exoplanet very close to its star.

(Hubble Uncovers a ‘Heavy Metal’ Exoplanet Shaped Like a Football, NASA)

Interestingly, its orbit puts the planet within the so-called habitable zone–the range of distances from a star where liquid water might pool on the surface of an orbiting planet.

(New Planet Is Largest Discovered That Orbits Two Suns, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

So-called nephrogenic adenoma is a distinct metaplastic lesion of the urothelium characterized by aggregates of cuboidal or hobnail cells.

(Nephrogenic Adenoma, NCI Thesaurus)

When mammals exhale, the depleted air follows the same route out of the body, exhibiting a so-called tidal flow pattern.

(Following the lizard lung labyrinth, National Science Foundation)

The ring revolves around Haumea, located in the so-called Kuiper Belt.

(Brazil astronomers discover ring around dwarf planet near Pluto, Agência Brasil)

The APOA2 gene encodes a protein that is part of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, so-called “good” cholesterol.

(International Research Team Finds Correlation Between Genetics and Obesity Is Modified by Diet, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

The thirteen colonies threw off their rulers and formed the Republic so-called.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

In particular, the researchers looked at the thickness of the cortex, the outer layer of the brain – our so-called ‘grey matter’ – and compared it to each child’s body mass index (BMI).

(Childhood obesity linked to structural differences in key brain regions, University of Cambridge)

The oddball exoplanet, called WASP-12b, is one of a class of so-called "hot Jupiters," gigantic, gaseous planets that orbit very close to their host star and are heated to extreme temperatures.

(Hubble Captures Blistering Pitch-Black Planet, NASA)