unquote

Meanings

1. 1verbintransitiveinformal

   To say or signal that a quotation has finished, most often in the spoken phrase 'quote, unquote'.

   Grammar: Used without an object and almost always paired with quote: quote, unquote.

   Patterns

   • quote ... unquote

   The minister said the plan was, quote, a complete success, unquote.

   He called it a 'friendly chat', quote, unquote, though it felt like an interrogation.

   When you read the statement aloud, say quote at the start and unquote at the end.

2. 2nouncountabletechnicalrare

   The closing mark or word that shows a quoted passage has ended, such as a closing quotation mark.

   Grammar: Rare as a noun; it usually appears in instructions or in editing and coding contexts.

   Patterns

   • the unquote at the end of something

   The editor spotted a missing unquote at the end of the paragraph.

   In his script he marked each unquote with a small slash.

   The system treats the final unquote as the end of the string.

Word forms

Common combinations

quote, unquote

She is, quote, unquote, just helping out.

quote and unquote

The speaker raised two fingers to mark quote and unquote.

quote ... unquote friends

He arrived with his quote, unquote friends.

unquote a string

The function will unquote a string before comparing it.

Synonyms and how they differ

end quote

End quote is the plainer American phrase that works in speech or writing, while unquote sounds slightly more playful or ironic.

close quotation

Close quotation is a formal editing term and is rarely spoken aloud.

Opposites

Word family

quote verb

to repeat someone else's words exactly

quotation noun

a passage repeated from someone else

quotable adjective

worth repeating

misquote verb

to repeat someone's words wrongly

Commonly confused: unquote or misquote?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “unquote”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words