question mark
Syllables: quest·ion markUK/ˈkwɛstʃ(ə)n ˌmɑːk//ˈkwɛstʃ(ə)n ˌmɑɹk/
question mark noun: the punctuation mark "?", used at the end of a sentence to indicate a question.
Noun
question mark (plural question marks)
- The punctuation mark "?", used at the end of a sentence to indicate a question.
- Do you see this curious-looking mark in the margin? It is a little crooked mark with a dot at the bottom of it. It is a question mark. It always comes at the end of questions.1856, Jacob Abbott, “Lesson V. Questions.”, in Learning to Read. […] (Harper’s Picture Books for the Nursery; The Little Learner), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, part III (Hard...
- When you come to a question mark, you must stop and rest. If the question may be answered by yes or no, your voice must rise on the last word before the question mark.1857, Richard Greene Parker [i.e., Richard Green Parker]; J[ames] Madison Watson, “Lesson II. The Interrogation Point.”, in The National Second Reader: […], revised edition, New York, N.Y.: A[lfred]...
- A state of doubt or uncertainty.
- There’s a question mark over whether or not he’ll be fit for the next game.
- Because I keep answering questions with more questions, and there are question marks between myself and other people and I can no longer keep myself from wondering why that must always be so.2012, Shinji Moon, “‘Why Do You Write Poetry?’”, in The Anatomy of Being: (Poetry from 2011–2013), [Raleigh, N.C.]: [Lulu.com], →ISBN, page 100
- An enigmatic, inscrutable, or mysterious person or thing; an enigma, a riddle.
- Let us admit that the Platonic dialogue is an enigma—something perplexing and to be wondered at. The Platonic dialogue is one big question mark.1964, Leo Strauss, “On Plato’s Republic”, in The City and Man, paperback edition, Chicago, Ill.; London: University of Chicago Press, published 1978, →ISBN, page 55
- Mr. [Richard] Foreman has been the reigning philosopher vaudevillian of the New York avant-garde for three decades now, creating fractured dreamscapes in which life is the banana cream pie that keeps hitting you in the face. His starting point is that the world is unknowable, self is a question...1999 January 27, Ben Brantley, “Paradise Hotel [review]”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page E1, column 1; reprinted in “Reviews 1999”, in The New...
- Polygonia interrogationis, a North American nymphalid butterfly with a silver mark on the underside of its hindwing resembling a question mark (sense 1).
- Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis). Preferred host plants are elms (Ulmus spp.), hackberry (Celtis spp.), hops (Humulus spp.), nettle (Urtica spp.), and false nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica).1990, Wendy Potter-Springer, “List of Host Plants for Caterpillars”, in Heather Clemow, editor, Grow a Butterfly Garden (A Storey County Wisdom Bulletin; A-114), North Adams, Mass.: Storey...
- Commas (Polygonia comma) and Question Marks (Polygonia interrogationis) occur from the Gulf Coast to Canada and west to the Rockies. [...] Question Marks and Commas are handsome butterflies with burnt orange and black markings. [...] On the underside of each hind wing of the Comma is a small...2004, Scott Shalaway, “Close-ups”, in Butterflies in the Backyard, Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 18
Particle
question mark
- Final interrogative particle, expressing second-guessing, usually in an exaggerated, rising tone.
- All real discovery comes from the ?, the basic curiosity and acceptance of, “Well, we think subatomic particles might exist, at least they have a tendency to exist, but we really don’t know for sure, you know, question mark?”1983, Voices: The Art and Science of Psychotherapy, volumes 19–20, Albany, New York: American Academy of Psychotherapists, page 12
- So I see one movement towards a new kind of society, a new kind of mobility. So am I right, question mark?2014 October 8, Mirosław Grochowski, “Supporting mobility: Development of bikepaths in Warsaw Metropolitan Area”, in Proceedings: METREX Brussels Autumn Conference, Brussels, page 85
question mark meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
question mark in Hindi
- punctuation mark
- प्रश्नचिह्न praśnacihna
question mark in Tamil
- punctuation mark
- கேள்விக்குறி kēḷvikkuṟi, வினாக்குறி viṉākkuṟi
- state of doubt or uncertainty
- கேள்விக்குறி kēḷvikkuṟi
- Polygonia interrogationis
- கேள்விக் குறியன் kēḷvik kuṟiyaṉ
question mark in Marathi
- punctuation mark
- प्रश्नचिन्ह praśnacinha
question mark in Urdu
- punctuation mark
- سَوالِیَہ نِشان savāliya niśān, ؟
More languagesFewer languages
- question mark in Bengali
- জিজ্ঞাসাচিহ্ন jijnaśacihno
- question mark in Malayalam
- ചോദ്യചിഹ്നം cōdyacihnaṁ
- question mark in Kannada
- ಪ್ರಶ್ನಾರ್ಥಕ ಚಿಹ್ನೆ, ಕೇಳ್ವಿ ಗುರುತು
- question mark in Punjabi
- ਪ੍ਰਸ਼ਨ ਚਿੰਨ੍ਹ praśan cinnh, ਸਵਾਲੀਆ ਨਿਸ਼ਾਨ savālīā niśān
- question mark in Pashto
- د پوښتنې نښه dë poẋtanë nix̌a, پوښتنې نښه poẋtanë nix̌a, سوالیه نښه swāliya nix̌a, ؟
- question mark in Tagalog
- tandang pananong
- question mark in Arabic
- عَلَامَة اِسْتِفْهَام ʕalāmat istifhām, ؟
- question mark in Malay
- tanda soal
- question mark in Indonesian
- tanda tanya
- question mark in Thai
- ปรัศนี bpràt-sà-nii, เครื่องหมายคำถาม krʉ̂ʉang-mǎai-kam-tǎam, เครื่องหมายสงสัย krʉ̂ʉang-mǎai-sǒng-sǎi
- question mark in Vietnamese
- dấu hỏi, dấu chấm hỏi
- question mark in Myanmar
- း။, မေးခွန်းအမှတ်အသား me:hkwan:a.hmat-a.sa:
Examples of question mark in a sentence
- As the relation of the faulted lamprophyre dike to faults 1 to 3 is not known, the intersection of the dike with these faults is shown on plate 13 with question marks.1954, George C. Hardin, Jr., “[Moore Hill Fault System, Crittenden and Livingston Counties.] Geology.”, in William R. Thurston; George C....
- She stares at the initials, the connecting lines, the question marks, the circles.2015, Dorothy Koomson, “Smitty”, in That Girl from Nowhere, London: Arrow Books, Penguin Random House, published 2016, →ISBN, page 415:
- Such a revolution was particularly unwelcome; it meant exchanging the certainties of conventional warfare for a vast number of question marks.1958 May 14, Christian de La Malène, Constantin Melnik, “Second Period (1949–1955): Atomic Weapons are Regarded as Facts whose Existence...
- [W]e see that intellectual pursuits always end with question marks.2014, Derrick McCarson, “The Search for Meaning (1:12–2:11)”, in Journal of a Mad Man: The Wisdom of Ecclesiastes, Eugene, Or.: Resource...
Synonyms of question mark
Forms of question mark
| plural | question marks |
|---|
Words formed from question mark
Questions about question mark
- What does question mark mean?
- Question mark means the punctuation mark "?", used at the end of a sentence to indicate a question.
- What is question mark in Hindi?
- Question mark in Hindi is प्रश्नचिह्न (praśnacihna). See Question mark meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use question mark in a sentence?
- As the relation of the faulted lamprophyre dike to faults 1 to 3 is not known, the intersection of the dike with these faults is shown on plate 13 with question marks.
- What part of speech is question mark?
- Question mark can be a noun or a particle.
- How do you pronounce question mark?
- Question mark is pronounced /ˈkwɛstʃ(ə)n ˌmɑːk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of question mark?
- The plural of question mark is question marks.
Words near question mark in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: question mark (page history and authors); question mark (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਪ੍ਰਸ਼ਨ ਚਿੰਨ੍ਹ (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-question mark.mp3.
Cite this entry: “question mark.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/question_mark. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.