"air quote" meaning in English

See air quote in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: air quotes [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} air quote (plural air quotes), {{tlb|en|usually|in the plural}} (usually in the plural)
  1. A typically two-handed gesture resembling quotation marks. Tags: plural-normally Synonyms: finger quote Translations (hand gesture): 引號手勢 (Chinese Mandarin), 引号手势 (yǐnhào shǒushì) (Chinese Mandarin), ilmalainausmerkki (Finnish), guillemets ironiques [masculine, plural] (French), hermetegn [neuter, plural, singular] (Norwegian Bokmål), aspas no ar [feminine, plural] (Portuguese), entre comillas (Spanish), entre comillas con los dedos (Spanish), comillas aéreas [feminine, plural] (Spanish), comillas dactilares [feminine, plural] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-air_quote-en-noun-RRrDlWRL Disambiguation of 'hand gesture': 83 17
  2. (by extension) An emphatic tone of voice used to indicate a euphemism, or displeasure with a false or inaccurate phrase being quoted. Tags: broadly, plural-normally Related terms: quote unquote
    Sense id: en-air_quote-en-noun-U4Z0AaDn Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Danish translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 6 94 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 5 95 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 6 94 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 4 96 Disambiguation of Terms with Danish translations: 4 96 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 7 93 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 9 91 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 10 90 Disambiguation of Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations: 8 92 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 7 93 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 6 94

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "air quotes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "air quote (plural air quotes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "usually",
        "3": "in the plural"
      },
      "expansion": "(usually in the plural)",
      "name": "tlb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2020, Ben Aaronovitch, False Value, Gollancz, page 11:",
          "text": "You could hear the air quotes around ‘chill’ when he said it.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A typically two-handed gesture resembling quotation marks."
      ],
      "id": "en-air_quote-en-noun-RRrDlWRL",
      "links": [
        [
          "quotation mark",
          "quotation mark"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "finger quote"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "plural-normally"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "hand gesture",
          "word": "引號手勢"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "yǐnhào shǒushì",
          "sense": "hand gesture",
          "word": "引号手势"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "hand gesture",
          "word": "ilmalainausmerkki"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "hand gesture",
          "tags": [
            "masculine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "guillemets ironiques"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "hand gesture",
          "tags": [
            "neuter",
            "plural",
            "singular"
          ],
          "word": "hermetegn"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "hand gesture",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "aspas no ar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "hand gesture",
          "word": "entre comillas"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "hand gesture",
          "word": "entre comillas con los dedos"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "hand gesture",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "comillas aéreas"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "hand gesture",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "comillas dactilares"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "6 94",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "5 95",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 94",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "4 96",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "4 96",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Danish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 93",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 91",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "10 90",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 92",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 93",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 94",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "\"So you were out with 'the boys',\" she said vexedly, putting air quotes around the last two words.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An emphatic tone of voice used to indicate a euphemism, or displeasure with a false or inaccurate phrase being quoted."
      ],
      "id": "en-air_quote-en-noun-U4Z0AaDn",
      "links": [
        [
          "emphatic",
          "emphatic"
        ],
        [
          "euphemism",
          "euphemism"
        ],
        [
          "displeasure",
          "displeasure"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension) An emphatic tone of voice used to indicate a euphemism, or displeasure with a false or inaccurate phrase being quoted."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "40 60",
          "word": "quote unquote"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "plural-normally"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "air quote"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Requests for review of Danish translations",
    "Terms with Danish translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "en:Body language"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "air quotes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "air quote (plural air quotes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "usually",
        "3": "in the plural"
      },
      "expansion": "(usually in the plural)",
      "name": "tlb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "quote unquote"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2020, Ben Aaronovitch, False Value, Gollancz, page 11:",
          "text": "You could hear the air quotes around ‘chill’ when he said it.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A typically two-handed gesture resembling quotation marks."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "quotation mark",
          "quotation mark"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "finger quote"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "plural-normally"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "\"So you were out with 'the boys',\" she said vexedly, putting air quotes around the last two words.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An emphatic tone of voice used to indicate a euphemism, or displeasure with a false or inaccurate phrase being quoted."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "emphatic",
          "emphatic"
        ],
        [
          "euphemism",
          "euphemism"
        ],
        [
          "displeasure",
          "displeasure"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension) An emphatic tone of voice used to indicate a euphemism, or displeasure with a false or inaccurate phrase being quoted."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "plural-normally"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "hand gesture",
      "word": "引號手勢"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "yǐnhào shǒushì",
      "sense": "hand gesture",
      "word": "引号手势"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "hand gesture",
      "word": "ilmalainausmerkki"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "hand gesture",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "guillemets ironiques"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "hand gesture",
      "tags": [
        "neuter",
        "plural",
        "singular"
      ],
      "word": "hermetegn"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "hand gesture",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "aspas no ar"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "hand gesture",
      "word": "entre comillas"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "hand gesture",
      "word": "entre comillas con los dedos"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "hand gesture",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "comillas aéreas"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "hand gesture",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "comillas dactilares"
    }
  ],
  "word": "air quote"
}

Download raw JSONL data for air quote meaning in English (3.1kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.