Definition of the word question

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A question is an utterance which serves as a request for information. Questions are sometimes distinguished from interrogatives, which are the grammatical forms typically used to express them. Rhetorical questions, for instance, are interrogative in form but may not be considered bona fide questions, as they are not expected to be answered.

Questions come in a number of varieties. Polar questions are those such as the English example «Is this a polar question?», which can be answered with «yes» or «no». Alternative questions such as «Is this a polar question, or an alternative question?» present a list of possibilities to choose from. Open questions such as «What kind of question is this?» allow many possible resolutions.

Questions are widely studied in linguistics and philosophy of language. In the subfield of pragmatics, questions are regarded as illocutionary acts which raise an issue to be resolved in discourse. In approaches to formal semantics such as alternative semantics or inquisitive semantics, questions are regarded as the denotations of interrogatives, and are typically identified as sets of the propositions which answer them.

Definitions[edit]

Linguistically, a question may be defined on three levels.

At the level of semantics, a question is defined by its ability to establish a set of logically possible answers.^[1]

At the level of pragmatics, a question is an illocutionary category of speech act which seeks to obtain information from the addressee.^[1]

At the level of syntax, the interrogative is a type of clause which is characteristically associated with questions, and defined by certain grammatical rules (such as subject–auxiliary inversion in English) which vary by language.

Some authors conflate these definitions. While prototypical questions (such as «What is your name?») will satisfy all three definitions, their overlap is not complete. For example «I would like to know your name.» satisfies the pragmatic definition, but not the semantic or syntactic ones. Such mismatches of form and function are called indirect speech acts.

Uses[edit]

The principal use of questions is to elicit information from the person being addressed by indicating the information which the speaker (or writer) desires.^[2]

A slight variant is the display question, where the addressee is asked to produce information which is already known to the speaker.^[3] For example, a teacher or game show host might ask «What is the capital of Australia?» to test the knowledge of a student or contestant.

A direction question is one that seeks an instruction rather than factual information. It differs from a typical («information») question in that the characteristic response is a directive rather than a declarative statement.^[1] For example:

A: When should I open your gift?

B: Open it now.

Questions may also be used as the basis for a number of indirect speech acts. For example, the imperative sentence «Pass the salt.» can be reformulated (somewhat more politely) as:

Would you pass the salt?

Which has the form of an interrogative, but the illocutionary force of a directive.

The term rhetorical question may be colloquially applied to a number of uses of questions where the speaker does not seek or expect an answer (perhaps because the answer is implied or obvious), such as:

Has he lost his mind?

Why have I brought you all here? Let me explain…

They’re closed? But the website said it was open until 10 o’clock.

Loaded questions (a special case of complex questions), such as «Have you stopped beating your wife?» may be used as a joke or to embarrass an audience, because any answer a person could give would imply more information than he was willing to affirm.

Semantic classification[edit]

The main semantic classification of questions is according to the set of logically possible answers that they admit. An open question, such as «What is your name?», allows indefinitely many possible answers. A closed question admits a finite number of possible answers. Closed questions may be further subdivided into yes–no questions (such as «Are you hungry?») and alternative questions (such as «Do you want jam or marmalade?»).

The distinction between these classes tends to be grammaticalized. In English, open and closed interrogatives are distinct clause types characteristically associated with open and closed questions, respectively.

Yes–no questions[edit]

A yes–no question (also called a polar question,^[1] or general question^[4]) asks whether some statement is true. They can in principle be answered by a «yes» or «no» (or similar words or expressions in other languages). Examples include «Do you take sugar?», «Should they be believed?» and «Am I the loneliest person in the world?»

Alternative questions[edit]

An alternative question^[5] presents two or more discrete choices as possible answers in an assumption that only one of them is true. For example:

Are you supporting England, Ireland or Wales?

The canonical expected answer to such a question would be either «England», «Ireland», or «Wales». Such an alternative question presupposes that the addressee supports one of these three teams. The addressee may cancel this presupposition with an answer like «None of them».

In English, alternative questions are not syntactically distinguished from yes–no questions. Depending on context, the same question may have either interpretation:

• Do these muffins have butter or margarine? [I’m on a low fat diet.]
• Do these muffins have butter or margarine? [I saw that the recipe said you could use either.]

In speech, these are distinguishable by intonation.

Open questions[edit]

An open question (also called a variable question,^[1] non-polar question, or special question^[4]) admits indefinitely many possible answers. For example:

Where should we go for lunch?

In English, these are typically embodied in a closed interrogative clause, which uses an interrogative word such as when, who, or what. These are also called wh-words, and for this reason open questions may also be called wh-questions.

Question formation[edit]

Questions may be marked by some combination of word order, morphology, interrogative words, and intonation. Where languages have one or more clause type characteristically used to form questions, they are called interrogative clauses. Open and closed questions are generally distinguished grammatically, with the former identified by the use of interrogative words.

In English, German, French and various other (mostly European) languages, both forms of interrogative are subject to an inversion of word order between verb and subject. In English, the inversion is limited to auxiliary verbs, which sometimes necessitates the addition of the auxiliary do, as in:

a. Sam reads the newspaper. — Statement

b. Does Sam read the newspaper? — Yes–no question formed using inversion and do-support

Open questions[edit]

Open questions are formed by the use of interrogative words such as, in English, when, what, or which. These stand in as variables representing the unknown information being sought. They may also combine with other words to form interrogative phrases, such as which shoes in:

Which shoes should I wear to the party?

In many languages, including English and most other European languages, the interrogative phrase must (with certain exceptions such as echo questions) appear at the beginning of the sentence, a phenomenon known as wh-fronting. In other languages, the interrogative appears in the same position as it would in a corresponding declarative sentence (in situ).^[6]

A question may include multiple variables as in:

Whose gifts are in which boxes?

Polar questions[edit]

Different languages may use different mechanisms to distinguish polar («yes-no») questions from declarative statements (in addition to the question mark). English is one of a small number of languages which use word order. Another example is French:

	French	Translation
Declarative	Vous avez tué un oiseau.	You have killed a bird.
Polar question	Avez-vous tué un oiseau?	Have you killed a bird?

Cross-linguistically, the most common method of marking a polar question is with an interrogative particle,^[7] such as the Japanese か ka, Mandarin 吗 ma and Polish czy.

Other languages use verbal morphology, such as the -n verbal postfix in the Tunica language.

Of the languages examined in the World Atlas of Language Structures, only one, Atatláhuca–San Miguel Mixtec, was found to have no distinction between declaratives and polar questions.^[7]

Intonation[edit]

Most languages have an intonational pattern which is characteristic of questions (often involving a raised pitch at the end, as in English).

In some languages, such as Italian, intonation is the sole distinction.^{[citation needed]}

In some languages, such as English, or Russian, a rising declarative is a sentence which is syntactically declarative but is understood as a question by the use of a rising intonation. For example, «You’re not using this?»

On the other hand, there are English dialects (Southern Californian English, New Zealand English) in which rising declaratives (the «uptalk») do not constitute questions.^[8] However it is established that in English there is a distinction between assertive rising declaratives and inquisitive rising declaratives, distinguished by their prosody.

Request for confirmation and speaker presupposition[edit]

Questions may be phrased as a request for confirmation for a statement the interrogator already believes to be true.

A tag question is a polar question formed by the addition of an interrogative fragment (the «tag») to a (typically declarative) clause. For example:

You’re John, aren’t you?

Let’s have a drink, shall we?

You remembered the eggs, right?

This form may incorporate speaker’s presupposition when it constitutes a complex question.
Consider a statement

(A) Somebody killed the cat

and several questions related to it.

(B) John killed the cat, did he? (tag question)

(C) Was it John who killed the cat?

As compared with:

(D) Who killed the cat?

Unlike (B), questions (C) and (D) incorporate a presupposition that somebody killed the cat.

Question (C) indicates speaker’s commitment to the truth of the statement that somebody killed the cat, but no commitment as to whether John did it or didn’t.^[9]

Punctuation[edit]

In languages written in Latin, Cyrillic or certain other scripts, a question mark at the end of a sentence identifies questions in writing. As with intonation, this feature is not restricted to sentences having the grammatical form of questions – it may also indicate a sentence’s pragmatic function.

In Spanish an additional inverted mark is placed at the beginning: ¿Cómo está usted? «How are you?». An uncommon variant of the question mark is the interrobang (‽), which combines the function of the question mark and the exclamation mark.

Responses and answers[edit]

The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language distinguishes between an answer (being a member of the set of logically possible answers, as delineated in § Semantic classification) and a response (any statement made by the addressee in reply to the question).^[1] For example, the following are all possible responses to the question «Is Alice ready to leave?»

i.  (a) Yes.
    (b) She's ready.
    (c) No, she's not.
ii. (a) I don't know.
    (b) Why do you ask?
    (c) She might be.
iii.(a) She's still looking for her wallet.
    (b) She wasn't expecting you before 5 o'clock.
    (c) I'll let you know when she's ready.

Only the [i] responses are answers in the Cambridge sense. The responses in [ii] avoid committing to a yes or no answer. The responses in [iii] all implicate an answer of no, but are not logically equivalent to no. (For example, in [iiib], the respondent can cancel the implicature by adding a statement like: «Fortunately, she packed everything up early.»)

Along similar lines, Belnap and Steel (1976) define the concept of a direct answer:

A direct answer to a given question is a piece of language that completely, but just completely, answers the question…What is crucial is that it be effectively decidable whether a piece of language is a direct answer to a specific question… To each clear question there corresponds a set of statements which are directly responsive. … A direct answer must provide an unarguably final resolution of the question.^[10]

Answering negative questions[edit]

«Negative questions» are interrogative sentences which contain negation in their phrasing, such as «Shouldn’t you be working?» These can have different ways of expressing affirmation and denial from the standard form of question, and they can be confusing, since it is sometimes unclear whether the answer should be the opposite of the answer to the non-negated question. For example, if one does not have a passport, both «Do you have a passport?» and «Don’t you have a passport?» are properly answered with «No», despite apparently asking opposite questions. The Japanese and Korean languages avoid this ambiguity. Answering «No» to the second of these in Japanese or Korean would mean, «I do have a passport».

A similar ambiguous question in English is «Do you mind if…?» The responder may reply unambiguously «Yes, I do mind,» if they do mind, or «No, I don’t mind,» if they don’t, but a simple «No» or «Yes» answer can lead to confusion, as a single «No» can seem like a «Yes, I do mind» (as in «No, please don’t do that»), and a «Yes» can seem like a «No, I don’t mind» (as in «Yes, go ahead»). An easy way to bypass this confusion would be to ask a non-negative question, such as «Is it all right with you if…?»

Some languages have different particles (for example the French «si«, the German «doch» or the Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian «jo«) to answer negative questions (or negative statements) in an affirmative way; they provide a means to express contradiction.

Indirect questions[edit]

As well as direct questions (such as Where are my keys?), there also exist indirect questions (also called interrogative content clauses), such as where my keys are. These are used as subordinate clauses in sentences such as «I wonder where my keys are» and «Ask him where my keys are.» Indirect questions do not necessarily follow the same rules of grammar as direct questions.^[11] For example, in English and some other languages, indirect questions are formed without inversion of subject and verb (compare the word order in «where are they?» and «(I wonder) where they are»). Indirect questions may also be subject to the changes of tense and other changes that apply generally to indirect speech.

Learning[edit]

Questions are used from the most elementary stage of learning to original research. In the scientific method, a question often forms the basis of the investigation and can be considered a transition between the observation and hypothesis stages. Students of all ages use questions in their learning of topics, and the skill of having learners creating «investigatable» questions is a central part of inquiry education. The Socratic method of questioning student responses may be used by a teacher to lead the student towards the truth without direct instruction, and also helps students to form logical conclusions.

A widespread and accepted use of questions in an educational context is the assessment of students’ knowledge through exams.

Origins[edit]

Enculturated apes Kanzi, Washoe, Sarah and a few others who underwent extensive language training programs (with the use of gestures and other visual forms of communications) successfully learned to answer quite complex questions and requests (including question words «who», «what», «where»), although so far they have failed to learn how to ask questions themselves. For example, David and Anne Premack wrote: «Though she [Sarah] understood the question, she did not herself ask any questions — unlike the child who asks interminable questions, such as What that? Who making noise? When Daddy come home? Me go Granny’s house? Where puppy? Sarah never delayed the departure of her trainer after her lessons by asking where the trainer was going, when she was returning, or anything else».^[12] The ability to ask questions is often assessed in relation to comprehension of syntactic structures. It is widely accepted that the first questions are asked by humans during their early infancy, at the pre-syntactic, one word stage of language development, with the use of question intonation.^[13]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Berti, Enrico. Soggetti di responsabilita: questioni di filosofia pratica, Reggio Emilia, 1993.
• Fieser, James; Lillegard, Norman (eds.). Philosophical questions: readings and interactive guides, 2005.
• Hamblin, C.L. «Questions», in: Paul Edwards (ed.), Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• Muratta Bunsen, Eduardo. «Lo erotico en la pregunta», in: Aletheia 5 (1999), 65–74.
• Stahl, George. «Un développement de la logique des questions», in: Revue Philosophique de la France et de l’Etranger 88 (1963), 293–301.
• Smith, Joseph Wayne. Essays on ultimate questions: critical discussions of the limits of contemporary philosophical inquiry, Aldershot: Avebury, 1988.

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• quæstion (archaic)

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English question, questioun, questiun, from Anglo-Norman questiun, from Old French question, from Latin quaestiōnem, accusative of quaestiō (“a seeking, investigation, inquiry, question”), from quaerere (“to seek, ask, inquire”)^[1], of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Italic *kʷaizeō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- (“to acquire”).

Displaced native Old English āscung. Compare also Middle Low German quēstie (“questioning; inquiry”), Middle High German questje (“question”).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈkwɛst͡ʃən/, /ˈkwɛstjən/, /ˈkwɛʃt͡ʃən/
• (US also) IPA^(key): /ˈkwɛʃtən/
• (Indian English) IPA^(key): /ˈkwɛst͡ʃɛn/, /ˈkwɛʃ(t͡ʃ)ɛn/
• (Hong Kong) IPA^(key): /ˈkwɛ.ʃən/, /ˈkwɛʔ.ʃən/
• Rhymes: -ɛstʃən
• Hyphenation: ques‧tion

Noun[edit]

question (plural questions)

1. A sentence, phrase or word which asks for information, reply or response; an interrogative.

   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 4, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients:

     I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn’t think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.

   • 2006 Feb. 3, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 1, Episode 4:

     Can I ask you two a question? / Please, Christ, yes. / How can you two live like this? / How can… / Don’t google the question, Moss!

   What is your question?

2. A subject or topic for consideration or investigation.

   The question of seniority will be discussed at the meeting.

   There was a question of which material to use.

   • 2014 October 14, David Malcolm, “The Great War Re-Remembered: Allohistory and Allohistorical Fiction”, in Martin Löschnigg; Marzena Sokolowska-Paryz, editors, The Great War in Post-Memory Literature and Film‎^[1], Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG., →ISBN, page 173:

     The question of the plausibility of the counter-factual is seen as key in all three discussions of allohistorical fiction (as it is in Demandt’s and Ferguson’s examinations of allohistory) (cf. Rodiek 25–26; Ritter 15–16; Helbig 32).

3. A doubt or challenge about the truth, accuracy, or validity of a matter.

   His claim to the property has come under question.

   The story is true beyond question.

   He obeyed without question.

   • 1622 (date written)​, Francis [Bacon], “An Advertisement Touching an Holy VVarre. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany VVorks of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S. Alban. […], London: […] I. Hauiland for Humphrey Robinson, […], published 1629, →OCLC:

     It is to be to question, whether it be lawful for Christian princes or states to make an invasive war, only and simply for the propagation of the faith.

   • 2021 April 2, Ciara Nugent, “Can Public Transit Survive the Pandemic? London’s New Transport Commissioner Wants You to Believe It Can”, in Time‎^[2]:

     The pandemic has not only caused an immediate fall in ticket revenues for the world’s public transit networks—rail ridership in Barcelona, Moscow, Beijing and New York City at times plummeting 80%—in some cities it also has thrown into question the future of mass urban transportation.

4. A proposal to a meeting as a topic for deliberation.

   I move that the question be put to a vote.

5. (now archaic, historical, chiefly with definite article) Interrogation by torture.

   • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, chapter LXXVII, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume II, London: Harrison and Co., […], published 1781, →OCLC:

     I, not at all ambitious of the crown of martyrdom, resolved to temporize: so that, when I was brought to the question the second time, I made a solemn recantation […]
6. (obsolete) Talk; conversation; speech.

   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

     Made she no verbal question?

Synonyms[edit]

• (interrogative): inquiry, enquiry, query, interrogation
• (subject): subject, topic, problem, consideration, proposition
• (doubt): issue, doubt
• (proposal): proposal

Derived terms[edit]

[edit]

• query
• quest

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

question (third-person singular simple present questions, present participle questioning, simple past and past participle questioned)

1. (transitive) To ask questions of; to interrogate; to ask for information.

   • 1836, Frederick W. Thomas, East and West, volume 2:

     Yet he lingered in Perryville with the determination of seeing Ruth, and questioning her about Helen Murray’s letters.

   • 2019, Nic Pizzolatto, “The Hour and the Day”, in True Detective, season 3, episode 4:

     Another former resident noticed the car because it was new and upscale and no one ever came back to question him. This points to serious flaws in the investigation from the beginning.

2. (transitive) To raise doubts about; have doubts about.

   • 1985 April 17, Herbert, Frank, Frank Herbert speaking at UCLA 4/17/1985‎^[3], UCLACommStudies, archived from the original on 10 February 2017, 15:46 from the start:

     Question things. I have the most fun when I’m writing questioning things that people do not question— the assumptions that everybody knows are true.

   • 2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     He questioned South Korean claims that China is a major source of its pollution.

3. (intransitive) To ask a question or questions; inquire or seek to know; examine.^[1]
   • 1597, Francis Bacon, Of Discourse

     He that questioneth much shall learn much.

4. (intransitive, obsolete) To argue; to converse; to dispute.

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

     I pray you, think you question with the Jew.

Synonyms[edit]

• frain, quaeritate (obsolete)

Derived terms[edit]

• questioner

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

• answer
• ask
• interrogative

References[edit]

• question in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• question at OneLook Dictionary Search

French[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• quæstion (obsolete)

Etymology[edit]

From Middle French and Old French question (12th c.), borrowed from Latin quaestiō, quaestiōnem. At first a learned word, therefore retaining preconsonantal -s- (compare related quête).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /kɛs.tjɔ̃/
• Rhymes: -jɔ̃

Noun[edit]

question f (plural questions)

1. a question

   Je voudrais vous poser une question.

   I would like to ask you a question.

2. issue, matter, topic, problem

Derived terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• “question”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams[edit]

• quêtions, toniques

Interlingua[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /kwesˈtjon/

Noun[edit]

question (plural questiones)

1. question

Middle English[edit]

Noun[edit]

question

1. Alternative form of questioun

Old French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin quaestiō, quaestiōnem.

Noun[edit]

question f (oblique plural questions, nominative singular question, nominative plural questions)

1. question (verbal statement intended to elicit a response)
2. question (problem in need of resolution)

Descendants[edit]

• → Middle English: questioun, question, questiun, questyon, questyounn, qwestyon, qwestioun
  • English: question
  • Scots: quaisten, quastin
  • → Welsh: cwestiwn
• French: question
  • → Romanian: chestie, chestiune
• Norman: tchestchion (Jersey)

References[edit]

• question on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

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educalingo

What you are is a question only you can answer.

Lois McMaster Bujold

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD QUESTION

Via Old French from Latin quaestiō, from quaerere to seek.

PRONUNCIATION OF QUESTION

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF QUESTION

Question is a verb and can also act as a noun.

WHAT DOES QUESTION MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Definition of question in the English dictionary

The first definition of question in the dictionary is a form of words addressed to a person in order to elicit information or evoke a response; interrogative sentence. Other definition of question is a point at issue. Question is also a difficulty or uncertainty; doubtful point.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO QUESTION

PRESENT

PAST

FUTURE

CONDITIONAL

IMPERATIVE

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH QUESTION

SYNONYMS OF «QUESTION»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «question» and belong to the same grammatical category.

TRANSLATION OF QUESTION

Find out the translation of question to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «QUESTION»

The term «question» is very widely used and occupies the 879 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.

Principal search tendencies and common uses of question

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «QUESTION» OVER TIME

10 QUOTES WITH «QUESTION»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word question.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «QUESTION»

Discover the use of question in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to question and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «QUESTION»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term question is used in the context of the following news items.

REFERENCE

« EDUCALINGO. Question [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/question>. Apr 2023 ».

• Defenition of the word question

  • A sentence, phrase or word which asks for information, a reply or response.
  • A subject or topic under consideration or discussion.
  • Challenge about the truth or accuracy of a matter.
  • To ask (a question) to somebody; to seek an answer to.
  • To examine by asking (a witness, for example).
  • Action of asking for information, a reply or response on a given subject.
  • uncertainty about the truth or factuality of existence of something; «the dubiousness of his claim»; «there is no question about the validity of the enterprise»
  • pose a series of questions to; «The suspect was questioned by the police»; «We questioned the survivor about the details of the explosion»
  • conduct an interview in television, newspaper, and radio reporting
  • a formal proposal for action made to a deliberative assembly for discussion and vote; «he made a motion to adjourn»; «she called for the question»
  • an informal reference to a marriage proposal; «he was ready to pop the question»
  • the subject matter at issue; «the question of disease merits serious discussion»; «under the head of minor Roman poets»
  • an instance of questioning; «there was a question about my training»; «we made inquiries of all those who were present»
  • a sentence of inquiry that asks for a reply; «he asked a direct question»; «he had trouble phrasing his interrogations»
  • call into question; challenge the accuracy, probity, or propriety of; «We must question your judgment in this matter»
  • pose a question
  • place in doubt or express doubtful speculation; «I wonder whether this was the right thing to do»; «she wondered whether it would snow tonight»
  • challenge the accuracy, probity, or propriety of; «We must question your judgment in this matter»
  • uncertainty about the truth or factuality or existence of something
  • the subject matter at issue
  • an informal reference to a marriage proposal
  • a formal proposal for action made to a deliberative assembly for discussion and vote
  • an instance of questioning
  • a sentence of inquiry that asks for a reply
  • pose a series of questions to
  • challenge the accuracy, probity, or propriety of
  • place in doubt or express doubtful speculation

Synonyms for the word question

• • ask
  • cast doubt on
  • difficulty
  • distrust
  • doubt
  • doubtfulness
  • dubiousness
  • enquiry
  • examine
  • grill
  • have reservations about
  • head
  • inquiry
  • interrogate
  • interrogation
  • interrogative
  • interrogative sentence
  • interview
  • issue
  • matter
  • mistrust
  • motion
  • oppugn
  • probe
  • problem
  • query
  • question mark
  • quiz
  • reservation
  • subject
  • suspect
  • uncertainty
  • wonder

Similar words in the question

• • question
  • question’s
  • questionably
  • questioner
  • questioner’s
  • questioners
  • questioningly
  • questionnaires
  • questions

Hyponyms for the word question

• • check out
  • cross-question
  • debrief
  • enquire
  • examine
  • feel out
  • inquire
  • interpellate
  • leading question
  • matter of fact
  • matter of law
  • problem
  • pump
  • question of fact
  • question of law
  • scruple
  • sound out
  • wonder
  • yes-no question

Hypernyms for the word question

• • ask
  • challenge
  • chew over
  • contemplate
  • converse
  • discourse
  • excogitate
  • inquiring
  • marriage offer
  • marriage proposal
  • meditate
  • mull
  • mull over
  • muse
  • ponder
  • precariousness
  • proposal
  • proposal of marriage
  • questioning
  • reflect
  • ruminate
  • sentence
  • speculate
  • subject
  • theme
  • think over
  • topic
  • uncertainness
  • uncertainty

Antonyms for the word question

• • answer

Idioms for the word question

• • in question

See other words

• • What is punish
  • The definition of proposal
  • The interpretation of the word probably
  • What is meant by prison
  • The lexical meaning priest
  • The dictionary meaning of the word prevent
  • The grammatical meaning of the word pretty
  • Meaning of the word prescribe
  • Literal and figurative meaning of the word prepare
  • The origin of the word end
  • Synonym for the word loose
  • Antonyms for the word persistence
  • Homonyms for the word solid
  • Hyponyms for the word race
  • Holonyms for the word rain
  • Hypernyms for the word rapid
  • Proverbs and sayings for the word rascal
  • Translation of the word in other languages rather

See Also: quern quernstone quersprung querulous query query language ques. quesadilla Quesnay quest question question mark question master question of fact question of law question time questionable questionary questioning questionless questionmaster Recent searches: View All

Go to Preferences page and choose from different actions for taps or mouse clicks. WordReference Random House Learner’s Dictionary of American English © 2023 ques•tion /ˈkwɛstʃən/USA pronunciation   n.  a sentence in a form that is spoken to someone in order to get information in reply:[countable]Please answer me when I ask you a question. a problem for discussion or under discussion; issue:[countable]There is another side to this question. a problem or question given as part of an examination:[countable]The test had 40 short-answer questions. a matter of some uncertainty or difficulty; problem: [countable]It was mainly a question of time.[uncountable]There can be no question of his guilt. Government a proposal to be debated or voted on:[countable]The question is before the committee. Government the procedure of putting a proposal to vote:[countable* usually: the + ~]He insisted on calling the question. v. to ask questions of; interrogate:[~ + object]The police questioned him closely. to make a question of; doubt: [~ + object]They questioned our sincerity.[~ + clause]I question if you are ready for success. Idioms Idioms beyond (all) question, beyond dispute; without doubt:She is, beyond question, the most glamorous actress of all. Idioms call in or into question, to dispute; challenge; cast doubt upon; question: [call + into + ~ + object]to call into question someone’s patriotism.[call + object + into + ~]called her patriotism into question. Idioms in question: under consideration:Where were you on the night in question? in dispute:His finances aren’t in question. Idioms out of the question, not to be considered:getting an appointment for today is out of the question. See -ques-. WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2023 ques•tion  (kwes′chən),USA pronunciation n.  a sentence in an interrogative form, addressed to someone in order to get information in reply. a problem for discussion or under discussion; a matter for investigation. a matter of some uncertainty or difficulty; problem (usually fol. by of ):It was simply a question of time. a subject of dispute or controversy. a proposal to be debated or voted on, as in a meeting or a deliberative assembly. the procedure of putting a proposal to vote. [Politics.]a problem of public policy submitted to the voters for an expression of opinion. [Law.] a controversy that is submitted to a judicial tribunal or administrative agency for decision. the interrogation by which information is secured. [Obs.]judicial examination or trial. the act of asking or inquiring; interrogation; query. inquiry into or discussion of some problem or doubtful matter. beg the question. See beg (def. 9). beyond question, beyond dispute; without doubt:It was, beyond question, a magnificent performance.Also, beyond all question.  call in or into question: to dispute; challenge. to cast doubt upon; question:This report calls into question all previous research on the subject. in question: under consideration. in dispute. out of the question, not to be considered; unthinkable; impossible:She thought about a trip to Spain but dismissed it as out of the question. v.t. to ask (someone) a question; ask questions of; interrogate. to ask or inquire. to make a question of; doubt:He questioned her sincerity. to challenge or dispute:She questioned the judge’s authority in the case. v.i. to ask a question or questions. Middle French questioner, derivative of the noun, nominal Latin quaestiōn- (stem of quaestiō), equivalent. to quaes-, stem of quaerere to ask + -tiōn- —tion; (verb, verbal) late Middle English Anglo-French questiun, Middle French question (noun, nominal) Middle English questio(u)n, questiun 1250–1300 ques′tion•er, n.  1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged inquiry, query, interrogation. 16.See corresponding entry in Unabridged query, examine. 17.See corresponding entry in Unabridged See inquire.  1, 16.See corresponding entry in Unabridged answer, reply. Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers:: question /ˈkwɛstʃən/ n a form of words addressed to a person in order to elicit information or evoke a response; interrogative sentence a point at issue: it’s only a question of time until she dies, the question is how long they can keep up the pressure a difficulty or uncertainty; doubtful point an act of asking an investigation into some problem or difficulty a motion presented for debate by a deliberative body put the question ⇒ to require members of a deliberative assembly to vote on a motion presented a matter submitted to a court or other tribunal for judicial or quasi-judicial decision beyond (all) question ⇒ beyond (any) dispute or doubt call in, into question ⇒ to make (something) the subject of disagreement to cast doubt upon the validity, truth, etc, of (something) in question ⇒ under discussion: this is the man in question out of the question ⇒ beyond consideration; unthinkable or impossible vb (mainly tr) to put a question or questions to (a person); interrogate to make (something) the subject of dispute or disagreement to express uncertainty about the validity, truth, etc, of (something); doubt Etymology: 13th Century: via Old French from Latin quaestiō, from quaerere to seek ˈquestioner n WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2023 WH-ques•tion  (dub′əl yo̅o̅ āch′kwes′chən),USA pronunciation n. [Gram.](in English) Grammara question containing a WH-word, often in initial position, and calling for an item of information to be supplied, as Where do you live? Also,wh- question. Cf. yes-no question.  ‘question‘ also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

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Definitions of question word

• noun question a sentence in an interrogative form, addressed to someone in order to get information in reply. 1
• noun question a problem for discussion or under discussion; a matter for investigation. 1
• noun question a matter of some uncertainty or difficulty; problem (usually followed by of): It was simply a question of time. 1
• noun question a subject of dispute or controversy. 1
• noun question a proposal to be debated or voted on, as in a meeting or a deliberative assembly. 1
• noun question the procedure of putting a proposal to vote. 1

Information block about the term

Origin of question

First appearance:

before 1250

One of the 11% oldest English words

1250-1300; (noun) Middle English questio(u)n, questiun < Anglo-French questiun, Middle French question < Latin quaestiōn- (stem of quaestiō), equivalent to quaes-, stem of quaerere to ask + -tiōn- -tion; (v.) late Middle English < Middle French questioner, derivative of the noun

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Question

question popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 96% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between «mom» and «screwdriver».

Synonyms for question

verb question

• interrogate — to ask questions of (a person), sometimes to seek answers or information that the person questioned considers personal or secret.
• quiz — an informal test or examination of a student or class.
• ask — If you ask someone something, you say something to them in the form of a question because you want to know the answer.
• grill — a grating or openwork barrier, as for a gate, usually of metal and often of decorative design.
• probe — to search into or examine thoroughly; question closely: to probe one’s conscience.

noun question

• inquiry — a seeking or request for truth, information, or knowledge.
• interrogation — the act of interrogating; questioning.
• request — the act of asking for something to be given or done, especially as a favor or courtesy; solicitation or petition: At his request, they left.
• demand — If one thing demands another, the first needs the second in order to happen or be dealt with successfully.
• investigation — the act or process of investigating or the condition of being investigated.

Antonyms for question

verb question

• reply — followup
• trust — reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.
• answer — When you answer someone who has asked you something, you say something back to them.
• believe — If you believe that something is true, you think that it is true, but you are not sure.
• certainty — Certainty is the state of being definite or of having no doubts at all about something.

noun question

• resolution — a formal expression of opinion or intention made, usually after voting, by a formal organization, a legislature, a club, or other group. Compare concurrent resolution, joint resolution.
• agreement — An agreement is a formal decision about future action which is made by two or more countries, groups, or people.
• calm — A calm person does not show or feel any worry, anger, or excitement.
• acceptance — Acceptance of an offer or a proposal is the act of saying yes to it or agreeing to it.
• concord — Concord is a state of peaceful agreement.

Top questions with question

• what is a rhetorical question?
• what was the question?
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• what is an open ended question?

See also

• All definitions of question
• Synonyms for question
• Antonyms for question
• Related words to question
• Sentences with the word question
• Words that rhyme with question
• question pronunciation
• The plural of question
• The past tense of question

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