How to Use air quotes in a Sentence

air quotes

plural noun
  • Muessig said in the video, using his fingers to make air quotes.
    Washington Post, 18 Nov. 2021
  • The quarterback used air quotes to make sure his audience knew what that meant.
    Ann Killion, SFChronicle.com, 9 Dec. 2019
  • With that poster behind her, Ravan echoes the sentiment and some of that frustration, making air quotes with her hands to prove her point.
    David Browne, Rolling Stone, 1 July 2021
  • Both new and past models do share the unmistakable Off-White orange pull tab and literal air quotes printed on the heel.
    Jake Woolf, GQ, 28 Mar. 2018
  • While that agreement still does not exist on paper, after last week, maybe those air quotes are no longer necessary.
    Nathan Baird, cleveland, 25 Feb. 2022
  • The Alliance, as Smith reiterated with those air quotes, does not exist on paper.
    Nathan Baird, cleveland, 25 Feb. 2022
  • Any competition under center this spring will carry on with heavy air quotes attached.
    Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2022
  • With seemingly the entire state on high alert, literally waiting to see which way the wind would blow, the idea of the California Dream felt utterly exhausted, ironic, sayable only between air quotes.
    Dana Goodyear, The New Yorker, 11 Nov. 2019
  • Horovitz and Diamond are good company — unassuming without false modesty; self-aware without irritating air quotes.
    New York Times, 22 Apr. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'air quotes.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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