From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishso-calledˈso-called ●●○ W3 adjective [only before noun] 1 NAME OF A THINGused to describe someone or something that has been given a name that you think is wrong The so-called experts couldn’t tell us what was wrong.2 used to show that something or someone is usually called a particular name the health threats posed by so-called ‘mad cow disease’
Examples from the Corpus
so-called• Maggie's so-called apartment consisted of one small room with a closet-sized bathroom.• It was in 1886 that she could be seen in the evenings at the Elysees-Montmare as a so-called artist.• No similar evidence exists in the past for the use of so-called brain science for benign purposes.• He was one of the defendants in the so-called Conspiracy Eight trial.• However, they may provide an explanation of the observed value of one very important quantity: the so-called cosmological constant.• The so-called hybrid bus is virtually silent and produces fewer exhaust fumes.• By bribery - all men are corruptible - and by removing permanently any so-called idealists who stand in our way.• A lot has been written in recent years about the so-called "male menopause".• I went to see the playwright's so-called masterpiece and was very disappointed by it.• But it may also have to do with the so-called sports that were on display.• However, the so-called Street v Mountford test fails to cope with the demands placed upon it by its own social context. 