burning question

Idioms

An urgent or crucial issue under heated discussion. For example, Real estate taxes are always a burning question for the town leaders. This term has exact equivalents in French (question brûlante) and German (brennende Frage). [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

burning question

It’s a burning question, sparked again by Friday’s anemic employment report showing the country shed jobs last month even as the unemployment rate has fallen this year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026

The burning question is: what's different this time?

From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2026

A burning question now is, when will the court rule?

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 15, 2025

I think that leaves us with the burning question you and I are now asking every week: Are the justices really that naive and credulous?

From Slate ● Jul. 18, 2025

“Yes,” she said, “I...seek an answer to the burning question: Is it A-flat or G-sharp?”

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023