so-called

From so +‎ called.

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: sōʹkôld', IPA^(key): /ˈsəʊˌkɔːld/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsoʊˌkɔld/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

so-called (not comparable)

1. so named; commonly called.

   the so-called Ising mode

   • 1988, Ingrid Coetzee, Gerhard-Mark Van der Waal, Conservation of Culture: Changing Context and Challenges:

     Another Canadian example is that of the so-called Halfback Program initiated in the province of Ontario. With this scheme state lottery tickets with which no prizes are won retain 50% of the value of their initial cost […]

   • 2010, Matty McEire, Looking for Sheville, Dog Ear Publishing, →ISBN, page 78:

     ... I hadn't met any straight women at the gay bars — a few so called "fag hags" fraternizing with the boys, of course, but ...

2. (ironic) commonly called by such a name, but false or unfitting.

   These so-called "assistants" are making our jobs harder, not easier!

   • 1895, Marie Corelli, The Sorrows of Satan, →OCLC, page 5:

     […] dawdling away the hours in the Park as if all the world and its millions of honest hard workers were created solely for the casual diversion of the so-called 'upper' classes, […]

• “so-called”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• So-Called. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved on 6 June 2016.