“Sic” in brackets is a little editor’s note that means “thus” or “so” in Latin and signals that a weird-looking word or mistake in a quote is exactly how it appeared in the original source.

Quick meaning

  • When you see [sic] in the middle of a quotation, it means:
    • There is a typo, odd grammar, or strange word choice just before it.
* The person quoting has **not** changed it; they are reproducing the original exactly.

Example:

“They supprot [sic] the program on paper but don’t actively promote it.”

Here, supprot is the original typo, and [sic] shows it’s not the quoter’s mistake.

Why people use [sic]

  • To protect their own credibility: it shows “this error isn’t mine; it’s in the original text.”
  • To preserve accuracy: in academic, legal, or news writing, quotes must stay exactly as they were written or spoken.
  • Sometimes, to subtly highlight or even mock the error or odd phrasing, though many style guides warn against overdoing this.

How it’s usually formatted

  • Most common form: [sic] in square brackets, sometimes italicized as [sic].
  • It appears:
    • Immediately after the error in the quote.
* Inside the quoted material, but the brackets show it was added by the person quoting, not the original speaker/writer.

Extra nuance and etiquette

  • Many modern style guides suggest using [sic] sparingly and only when it truly helps the reader.
  • Alternatives include:
    • Quietly fixing obvious typos in non-critical contexts.
* Using a bracketed correction instead of [sic], like: “Using sic make[s] the writer seem smug.”
  • Overuse can come across as pedantic or as if the writer is shaming the original speaker.

SEO-style meta note

If you’re searching “what does sic in brackets mean” because you saw it in a news article or forum discussion, you can read it as:

“Yes, that mistake is really in the original—and it’s being quoted exactly as is.”

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.