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so-called

/ˌsoʊ ˈkɔːld//ˌsəʊ ˈkɔːld/·adjective
called by a name the speaker thinks is wrong or undeserved
Fig. 1 — A vast crowned head looms over the stage, glowing and terrible, billing itself as the Great and Powerful, and for a moment I half believe it.
01Definition

So-called does two opposite jobs. Most often it is a quiet sneer: placed before a label, it tells the reader the speaker doubts the name is deserved or legitimate — a so-called expert, a so-called democracy. The name is the one others use; the speaker withholds belief. Its second, neutral use simply introduces a technical term the reader may not know, as in 'the so-called greenhouse effect'. Tone decides which is meant. In academic writing the sceptical sense can undermine an opponent without offering proof, so careful writers use it sparingly.

02In use
  • iThese so-called experts had never once run a business of their own.
  • iiThe so-called reforms did almost nothing to alleviate the housing crisis.
  • iiiHe lives in a so-called smart home that cannot even dim its own lights.
03Collocations
  • so-called experts
  • the so-called effect
  • so-called reforms
  • a so-called solution
04Relations

=supposed, alleged, ostensible, self-styled, professed

≠genuine, actual, bona fide

06TOEFL & IELTS

A tone marker more than a content word. In reading comprehension it signals the author's scepticism — spotting it tells you the writer disputes the label. In your own essays use it with care: it can read as biased or informal, since it dismisses a claim without argument. Mind the hyphen, and don't confuse the sceptical sense with the neutral 'introducing a term' use.

07Asked
What does 'so-called' mean?
It does two opposite jobs. Most often it is a quiet sneer — placed before a label, it signals the speaker doubts the name is deserved: a so-called expert has not earned the title. Less often it is neutral, simply introducing a known term ('the so-called greenhouse effect'). Tone decides which is meant, and in most everyday use the sceptical sense is the safe bet.
Why does 'so-called' sound sarcastic?
Because it works as spoken scare quotes. Writing a so-called reform does exactly what air-quotes around 'reform' would do — it hands you the label while withholding belief in it. The scene above is that gesture made visible: the giant billing itself Great and Powerful, and the curtain twitching back to show the small figure working the levers. Once you have seen behind it, the grand title only underlines the doubt.
Do you need quotation marks with 'so-called'?
No — and using both is redundant. So-called already casts the doubt that quotation marks would cast, so 'these so-called experts' needs no further quotes around expert. Pick one device: either so-called or the scare quotes, never the pair. Doubling them looks unsure of itself and, to a careful reader, slightly over-eggs the sneer.
Is 'so-called' hyphenated?
Yes, when it sits before the noun it modifies — the standard attributive position: a so-called solution, these so-called reforms. That is where it almost always appears. The hyphen binds the two words into a single adjective; dropping it ('so called expert') reads as an error. Mind, too, that it takes no article of its own — you write a so-called expert, not 'a so-called an expert'.
Can you use 'so-called' in academic writing?
Sparingly. Its neutral job — flagging a technical term — is perfectly academic ('the so-called bystander effect'). Its sceptical job is riskier: dismissing a position with so-called rejects it by tone rather than argument, which reads as biased in formal prose. If you mean to reject a claim in an essay, refute it with evidence; save so-called for genuinely introducing a name.